Good People
by TotallyLosingIt
Summary: Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Carlos knows something's up with Kendall, but the blonde's not talking. Will his silence protect his friends? Or will Carlos' persistence put them all in danger?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey you guyyyyyys! I'm back! Good People won the poll, so here I am, posting it. :P I hope you guys enjoy. It'll probably be a lot more serious than my others, but I'm excited to start. It'll also be longer, I'm thinking... maybe not longer than Two Minutes, but somewhere around there! **

**Disclaimer: You know, I find that the fact that I _have _to put a disclaimer speaks for itself, doesn't it? I own nothing. Sad face. T_T**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

"You guys want the check now?" the waitress asked, politely ignoring the untouched food.

Kendall started to stand. "Yes, please." He patted his pockets, absent look fading into a frown. "Oh, crap," he groaned. "I left my wallet in the car."

Carlos jumped up immediately. "I'll get it!" he said cheerfully.

"You really don't have to," Kendall started to say, but Carlos was already making a beeline for the door.

Parker arched an eyebrow in Kendall's direction—the bodyguard never really said much—and stood, following Carlos to the door.

"I got it," Logan said, smiling at the waitress and pressing three twenty-dollar bills in her hand. "You can keep the change." He tucked his wallet away and stood, walking with his friends to the door. Eddie fell into step behind them.

Carlos was already to the car, Parker jogging to keep up with him. Logan watched with amusement as he dove into the open window and nearly lodged himself halfway in the minivan before scrambling out, strapping his hockey helmet onto his head and patting it twice. Then he pulled something out of his pocket and triumphantly held it up for the world to see.

"It's okay, Carlos!" Kendall called, waving his keys as they started to walk to the minivan. "We paid already!"

Apparently the Latino boy couldn't hear him, because he started to walk to them. Kendall unlocked the minivan.

There was a flash of light that blinded Logan almost before the explosion deafened him, rocking him off his feet and sending him crashing to the ground. Heat practically peeled back the skin on his face. Disoriented, Logan looked up, ears ringing, spots flashing in front of his eyes, just in time to see the mushroom of fire and smoke billowing up from the minivan.

"Carlos," he whispered as his vision started to fade.

…

_Three weeks earlier_

"FAN MAIL!"

Gustavo looked slightly panicked as four boys raced towards him, eyes locked on the cardboard box in his hands. He managed to set it down on the conference table and step out of the way before Kendall, Logan, James, and Carlos ran him over in their haste to get to their fan mail. Ever since they received their first letters from love-stricken girls across the country, fan mail was the best part of their week.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of the letters went to Kendall or James. Logan got his fair amount and Carlos, as usual, got the least—but the Latino boy never seemed to mind. The boys each went to their section of the conference room and ripped open the packages.

"Ha!" James exclaimed first, holding up a mirror with lipstick pressed to the glass. "See this? They know exactly what I want!"

"Oh yeah?" Kendall bragged. "I've got at least three dozen phone numbers in here."

"I got a scrapbook," Logan pointed out, holding up a homemade blue and green scrapbook filled with pictures of the guys at concerts, as well as a couple of pictures from the girl who'd sent it and notes written in the margins.

Carlos let out an elated laugh as he hugged a teddy bear to his chest. "The letter says his name is Cash!" he said proudly. "This is so awesome!"

Gustavo shook his head and made a quick exit, letting his dogs have their fun.

An hour later, the boxes had been more or less emptied out. Carlos had fallen asleep in his corner, clutching his new teddy bear. Logan and James were reading their letters out loud and snickering.

The only one who didn't seem to be having fun anymore was Kendall. He was frowning at the letter he had clutched in his hands, expressive eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Logan was the first to notice it. "What's wrong, dude?" he asked, putting his letters down.

Kendall looked up in surprise, like he was just now noticing there were people occupying the room besides himself. "Nothing," he said automatically, tucking the letter into his pocket.

"You sure?" James came over to see what he'd been looking at, but Kendall stood and moved over, looking sullen.

"I told you, it's nothing," he said, a little more forcefully this time. Without another word he went swiftly out the door, bumping into the couch by accident and rousing Carlos.

The sleepy boy yawned, sitting up. "What's up with Kendall?"

"No clue," James said, sounding exasperated. "Probably got a letter saying I'm hotter than he is and got his beanie in a knot."

"Beanies don't have knots, James," Logan pointed out.

"Not my problem." James turned on his heel to go back to his box.

"Seriously, though," Carlos said, more awake now. "He did the same thing a couple of days ago. Ever since last week's fan mail, remember?"

"Carlos is right," Logan agreed. "Come on, James, we should go find out."

James turned and arched an eyebrow at his friends. "I'm sure if Kendall—_Kendall, _of all people—had something troubling him he'd come to us. But he made it pretty obvious that nothing's wrong. We should just leave it alone."

Logan shrugged, accepting that. Carlos, on the other hand, frowned as he watched the place where Kendall had disappeared to.

"I'll be right back," he said, jumping up and placing the teddy bear down on the couch.

Logan and James looked up curiously, but didn't ask where he was going.

Carlos walked down the hallway towards Gustavo's office, listening for any sign of Kendall's voice. When he found it, he pressed himself to the wall, listening carefully.

"Where's Gustavo?" Kendall was asking.

"Out to get more coffee," Kelly replied. "I think you guys scared him with all of your enthusiasm about the fan mail." She chuckled, but the laughter died off when Kendall didn't join in. "You okay, Kendall?" she asked, sounding concerned. "You look a little pale."

"It's probably nothing," Kendall edged, uncertain. "But… I've been getting these letters."

"Hate mail?" Kelly guessed. "I know how much it hurts, Kendall, but—"

"No, it's not—" Kendall suddenly sighed harshly. "You know what? That's probably what it is."

"Kendall, wait," Kelly called, but from the footsteps Carlos could hear he was already walking away. Kendall turned the corner, stalking by Carlos without even seeing him, and flew out the door.

Carlos followed, eyes wide. He'd never seen Kendall so upset.

The blonde kicked at pebbles on the sidewalk, looking frustrated and confused. Carlos watched, trying to decide if he wanted to approach his friend or not. On one hand, James was right—Kendall had always been open about his feelings. If something had him this riled up, he usually went to his friends first. But he didn't, and Carlos knew when Kendall was upset about something.

Early afternoon sunlight filtered through the tree branches, lighting Kendall's blonde hair as he went to cross the street. Something else glinted in the sunlight, too, catching Carlos in the eyes and blinding him for a second.

He blinked and saw Kendall, standing in the middle of the road, blinking as if he'd been blinded, too. He took a step back, straight into the path of an oncoming car.

Carlos barely saw the car. Before he knew what he was doing he took four long steps, launching himself into the middle of the road right at Kendall. The blonde stood frozen, staring at the car.

Time didn't even slow down. Carlos crashed into Kendall in a tackle worthy of the NHL , throwing them both to the sidewalk on the other side of the street. The car's driver leaned on the horn as they slammed on the brakes—way too late, if Kendall had still been standing there.

Carlos blinked blearily, rubbing his head where his helmet was. "Kendall?" he grunted, grabbing his friend's arm and hoisting him up. "You okay?"

Kendall trembled from head to toe—about how Carlos felt. "Kendall," he said, turning him so that they were facing each other.

"Yeah," Kendall said, snapping out of it. "Are you okay? Dang, Carlos, nobody's ever moved that fast."

Carlos grinned in relief. "Sorry. I was following you—"

"Why?" Suddenly Kendall's thankful grin evaporated, leaving him glaring at the Latino. "How long have you been following me?"

Carlos looked stunned. "I just thought you looked upset and I wanted to help. I heard you talking to Kelly—"

Kendall reached over and grabbed Carlos by the shoulders. He was staring over Carlos with an expression that could be described as nothing but ice cold terror and disbelief, but when Carlos turned to see what he was staring at, Kendall's grip tightened and he fixed Carlos with a look of scary intensity.

"Listen, Carlos," he said firmly, although his voice shook slightly. _"Nothing is wrong. _Leave me alone."

He seemed to realize he was scaring Carlos, because he released him, gave him one last look, and hurried off through the park. Carlos stared after him, trying to figure out what had just happened. Kendall had never acted like that, not in all of the years Carlos had seen him.

Slowly, he looked over his shoulder. Nothing popped out at him until he saw someone moving—a tall man in a long black coat, a black hat, and black sunglasses. He was turning to walk away, but not before catching Carlos' gaze behind those opaque lenses. They stared at each other for a second longer before the man's lips twitched in a feral smile and he turned and hurried down the path.

Carlos hugged himself, shuddering. Something was definitely wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

**Had a good question in one of my reviews, so I decided to answer it here so everyone knows. No, this story is not slash. I don't write slash. Not because I don't support it, but mostly because I fail at writing it and I don't really do romance anyways. :P So sorry to those who might be disappointed, but this fic probably won't have much romance in it anyways. Also, when I do add a sprinkling of romance, it's usually canon pairings, 'cause I'm a wimp. :P**

**Anyways, that was for future reference. :P Who's excited for Windows Down? ME!**

**Lol enjoy!**

**...**

Three words. Three words that, separately, weren't terrifying at all. But together—together they made Kendall's mouth dry just by thinking about them.

_Don't tell anyone._

Kendall shoved his hands in his pockets and hurried forward, not sure if he was angry or scared or both. He'd been _so close. _So close to Carlos. The Man in Black—that's what he'd taken to calling him. Kendall was hoping that the letter he'd received last week was nothing but a prank. He remembered opening it absentmindedly, taking out the neat folded paper, and reading the simple words:

_I'm watching you. Don't tell anyone._

Creepy. Short. Vague. But not something Kendall usually paid attention to. After all, these letters were screened, weren't they? At least, for anything dangerous. And no one else seemed to pay much attention, so Kendall didn't either.

Except another letter came today. The envelope was packed full of dozens of pictures—pictures of him, of Carlos and Logan and James, of Katie and his mom, even of Gustavo and Kelly. Some of them scared him so badly he dropped the pictures, like the ones of Katie and his mom at the grocery store. Or the one where Carlos and James were playing hockey by the pool. _He's that close? _It was incomprehensible to think about.

The pictures came with the same plain, typed words on the same blank white paper. _I'm watching you. Don't tell anyone. _

And that's when he knew the man he thought was following him really was following him. Kendall had noticed him outside of Rocque Records the day he received the first letter. It was just odd, seeing someone dressed head to toe in black on such a hot summer's day. And those eyes—like beady brown lasers cutting into him when they locked gazes.

But now that Kendall was thinking about it, those eyes had followed him all week. Outside of the grocery store when he went shopping with his mom. On the street when he took a walk. Obvious when he wore black—and the times when the man didn't want to be spotted, he wore different clothes. But those eyes were everywhere.

Kendall suppressed a shudder as he remembered how close he'd gotten to Carlos. Too close. Of course, he probably should've been grateful. Carlos did save his life. He didn't even see or hear the car, lost in his own thoughts, blinded by… by what? He didn't even see.

He almost spilled everything to Carlos on the sidewalk if it hadn't been for The Man in Black. And if Kendall knew Carlos, the Latino would've thrown himself at The Man in Black, and who knew where _that _would lead.

But Carlos overheard him talking to Kelly.

"Don't think about it," he whispered to himself harshly, hurrying forward as if he could leave the thought in the dust if he walked fast enough. He didn't even know where he was going. It was ridiculous and dangerous, especially when the Man in Black could pop up anywhere.

Part of him wanted to tell somebody. Badly. This was insane! He was being _stalked _and _harassed _by a man older than him. Shouldn't he be entitled to a restraining order or something? But the message was pretty clear the first time, even more so the second time. If Kendall told anyone, something bad would happen to them.

Without even thinking about it Kendall suddenly found himself outside of the apartment. He didn't realize that his feet had been propelling him here. Instead of the usual peace he felt wash over him as he entered the lobby, Kendall felt nothing but dread. He couldn't help but look over his shoulder as he made a beeline for the elevator, taking in any unfamiliar things in the lobby as if the new lamp Bitters got was the Man in Black in disguise.

"Knight!"

Kendall nearly jumped a foot in the air as Bitters slid in front of him, blocking his way to the elevator. For a moment his panic level rose until he was almost hyperventilating, eyes darting around for the quickest means of escape.

As he realized it was only his apartment manager his terror subsided little by little. Bitters looked pleased at his reaction—or as pleased as his expression could manage around the permanent scowl he constantly wore.

"You have a special delivery," he said disdainfully, dropping a thick package into Kendall's hands. "Dunno why it's so urgent. If it's messy don't you dare open it in my apartment!"

He was gone before Kendall could find his voice again. He cupped the package gingerly, like it was a baby bird. Or a pipe bomb. After everything that's happened over the last two weeks, he wouldn't be surprised if it were the latter.

Despite Bitters' warning, Kendall rode the elevator silently up to his floor and went straight to his apartment. It was silent as he let himself in—Katie and his mom were out and about somewhere, and the guys hadn't gotten back yet. That was fine by Kendall. He needed to be alone, or he would go crazy.

The package wasn't big. It was only slightly larger than his hands in width. It was heavy, though, and something else slid around in it. There was no return address or name, just Kendall's printed neatly—even his middle name, as if that made it sound more official. It only served to make Kendall more nervous about opening it.

He stared at it for a good ten minutes until his curiosity won out. Sighing deeply, Kendall reached for the paper and carefully peeled back the corners. Pouring the items out onto the table, he sat back and sighed again.

There was a leather bound book and a cell phone, the cheap kind that you could find at Radio Shack. Kendall didn't know what to do with the cell phone, but he reached for the book, undid the cord sealing the covers together, and opened it.

Out fell pictures—a ton of pictures. Kendall's hands trembled as he picked up the thick stack of photos, sifting through them one at a time. His dread grew with each one. The first was himself, walking to nowhere with an easy smile on his face. Another—him getting into his mother's car. Katie, laughing as Kendall attempted to pick her up like he used to when she was smaller. James, who was staring off into space and Logan, who wore a concentrated look on his face as he brought the eraser of a pencil up to his mouth to chew on.

There were more. Inside the Palm Woods as Logan chatted with Camille. Bitters off on one of his rants. His mother, folding laundry out on the patio—and Kendall had to swallow on that one, because the angle had given the man full view of the inside of his apartment. They grew worse. Inside of Rocque Records as Gustavo met them outside. Griffin, in his office, giving some lecture. Kelly as she made coffee.

Kendall couldn't stop going through the pictures, although his mind was screaming at him to drop them and take off for his room, dive under the covers, and never come out again. But it was the last few that scared him the most.

It was him in the street, glaring at the road. It was Carlos, coming out of nowhere to tackle him. And it was Carlos staring straight at the camera after Kendall had left, a confused, concerned expression on his face.

Kendall finally got his fingers to work. He dropped the pictures like they were on fire, shaking so hard he could barely see. He gripped the kitchen counter hard and tried to breathe through his sudden revelation. That flash in the street that had blinded him—that was the camera's flash. There was no other explanation. The Man in Black had almost caused him an untimely death. Whether he'd done it on purpose or not, Kendall didn't know.

As the last picture of Carlos floated to the floor, it flipped on its backside. There in printed Sharpie, someone had scrawled simple words. _Don't let him follow you again._

A threat. Or a warning. Or both.

Noise brought him out of his frozen state. It was Logan and James, and they were talking loud enough to wake the dead. Kendall spurred into motion, gathering up the pictures, book, and cell phone and shoving them back into the cardboard box. He looked around wildly. There was no time to sprint to his room and lock the door. He couldn't leave it out where Katie or his mom could find it. James and Carlos' room was close enough, and they weren't likely to notice the package since their room was always an inexplicable mess anyways.

Kendall made a quick decision, chucked the package into James and Carlos' room, and hopped onto the couch, turning on the TV in one swift motion.

The door opened. James and Logan walked in, arguing about something or other, when they spotted Kendall.

"Hey," Logan said, surprised. He looked around the apartment. "Where's Carlos?"

Kendall managed an impressive shrug. "Thought he was with you guys."

"No, he went after you." Logan seemed to remember why Carlos had followed Kendall. His expression changed to one of concern. "Hey, are you okay? You looked pretty upset back at the studio."

Kendall changed the channel, pressing the button a little harder than he meant to. "I'm fine."

"You sure?" James spoke up. "I mean, you got like that last week, too."

Since when did his friends get so observant? Kendall scowled deeper. "I'm _fine, _guys. Really," he added, softening his tone when he saw them flinch. "I'm just getting kind of sick of people asking that."

"Sorry, dude," James said, raising his hands. "I told Carlos it was nothing, but you know how he gets when he thinks he can help somebody."

Kendall knew. That's what he was afraid of. "I'm sure he's just off blowing off some steam."

Logan said nothing, studying Kendall like he was a problem to be fixed. Kendall didn't like that, but he didn't say anything. Snapping at his friends would tell them that something was wrong, and he couldn't afford for them to ask questions. Being as normal as possible would have to suffice their curiosity.

"Come on," he said, scooting over on the couch so he could make room for them. "Let's play some video games."

"Seriously?" Logan said, looking surprised.

Kendall shrugged. "Yeah. I need to blow off some steam, too."

So they sat down with him.

James was kicking both of their butts when Carlos came in. He closed the door behind him and sat down across from Kendall and did nothing but stare at him.

"Hey Carlos," James greeted, not taking his attention off of the game.

Carlos nodded in his direction, but said nothing. After dying for the eightieth time, Logan put down his controller and looked at Carlos.

"Where did you go?" he asked. "You were gone for almost two hours."

Carlos tore his gaze from Kendall to look at Logan. "Went for a walk," he said simply.

Kendall tried not to look at him. If Carlos was looking right at the camera, why wasn't he telling the others what he saw? Why wasn't he telling them of how he'd saved Kendall's life when that car almost hit him? Carlos was acting almost as strange as Kendall, and it was freaking him out.

"Why don't you play a game with us?" Kendall suggested, handing Carlos Logan's discarded controller.

Carlos looked surprised. Kendall must've really been acting weird if his friends thought it was odd for him to be playing video games. But the Latino took the controller and sat down next to him, and before long they were all lost to the game.

It wasn't until night had fallen and Kendall was in bed before he remembered that he'd left his package in James and Carlos' room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Btrluvsme1328: Gah! Windows Down is the new BTR single that'll be released in 13 daaaays! Well. 12 days now since it's, like, past midnight on the East Coast. :P CHECK IT OOOOOUT!**

**Thank you all for your lovely comments. :) They very much entertain me- mostly all the death threats to the Man in Black. See what would happen if BTR were actually in any danger? All the Rushers of the world would band together and KICK the CRAP outta the bad guy! WHAT NOW?**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

Kendall was sure his heart was pounding loud enough to wake the dead. He couldn't help but move like a sloth, despite how much he knew his friends slept like rocks when they were asleep. The darkness was suffocating, but it was more because his paranoia was growing that Carlos or James had found the package, or that the Man in Black would return and do something horrible to them, or that he would be caught in this awkward position and be forced to explain himself.

Before he'd crept out of his room he'd checked the clock and was dismayed to see that it was only one in the morning. It felt like six in the morning. He had the feeling he wasn't going back to sleep after this anyways.

Kendall placed his hand on the doorknob to James and Carlos' room. He took a deep breath and tried not to feel like every creak of his joints was a gunshot that would wake his friends in a heartbeat. His knuckles cracked quietly as he turned the handle and it took him another three minutes just getting the door open.

Luckily, James and Carlos were snoring in unison and didn't stir in the least bit when Kendall poked his head in. Kendall released a silent sigh of relief and squinted into the darkness for his discarded package. It was there, at the base of Carlos' bed amidst articles of clothing that had been flung about the room. Kendall rolled his eyes in exasperation—did he really have to get so close to Carlos in order to retrieve the package? It almost didn't seem worth it—but then, yes it did. He needed that. He couldn't afford any of his friends finding out who the Man in Black was.

So he took another deep breath and took a step inside. The floor creaked beneath his feet. Kendall winced at the noise and cautiously stared at James and Carlos until he was positive they weren't going to wake again.

He made it to the package in record time. Everything was still in there, he noticed as he opened the cardboard flaps and peered inside. Now to get out.

The ringing of a cell phone shattered the silence. Kendall froze, wide-eyed, staring at the package as it rang. Of course—there was a cell phone in there. One of those cheap ones. Obviously it had been activated. And put on a high volume.

Kendall bolted for the door. He sprinted across the room, managing to avoid the furniture for the most part, threw open the sliding glass door to his patio, and answered the phone.

"Hello?" he panted.

Silence.

Kendall frowned. "Hello?" he said again. "Is anyone there?"

"_Her name was Alex," _a grated, gravelly voice said, startling him as he went to hang up.

"What?"

There was a harsh breath. _"You know, Kendall. Don't pretend like you don't."_

Kendall gripped the phone. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm going to hang up now."

"_Hang up and you forfeit their lives," _the voice hissed. Kendall hesitated and stared out at the city. _"I'm watching you. And your friends. And your sister. And your mother."_

The blonde took a deep breath and tried to keep from trembling. "What do you want?"

"_What do I want?" _There was a breathy laugh. _"You, Kendall."_

"What did I ever do to you?" Kendall demanded. "I don't even know you!"

"_Ah, but you will, Kendall. Because I know everything about you."_

Kendall went to talk again, but before he could the sliding glass door opened behind him.

"Kendall?" Carlos' sleepy voice echoed back to him. "What are you doing?"

Kendall didn't turn, gripping the phone so hard his knuckles cracked. The voice on the other end sounded amused.

"_Don't forget, Kendall," _it said. _"I'm watching you. Don't tell anyone—not even your stupid Mexican friend behind you. I think you know what'll happen to them if you do."_

Kendall's heart dropped to his toes. He heard the click of the phone meaning the conversation was over, but he couldn't bring himself to take the phone from his ear as he scanned the ground below him, looking for someone, _anyone. _How did the Man in Black—because that had to be him on the other end—know that Carlos was behind him? He had to have been watching him right now.

"Kendall?"

The blonde spun and grabbed Carlos' elbow. The Latino yelped as he dragged him back inside the apartment, yanking him down by the couch so they could crouch on the floor. "What's going on, Kendall?" he demanded.

Kendall looked over the couch. "You have to promise you won't tell anyone," Kendall said fiercely. "You can't tell anyone what happened tonight."

Carlos looked scared. "What are you talking about?"

"Promise me, Carlos." When Carlos didn't answer Kendall grabbed his shoulders. "Promise me!"

The younger boy's lips trembled. "I… I promise."

Kendall released him. He sat on the floor for a while, shaking as he gripped his fists. Carlos watched him with wide eyes. "Kendall?"

"Go back to bed, Carlos." When Kendall spoke again his voice was quiet and firm.

Carlos didn't move, but when Kendall looked at him there was so much pleading in his eyes that Carlos gave him a small nod and stood up, walking back to his room like a kicked puppy. But Kendall didn't see as he knelt down, picking up a picture that had fallen to the floor and tucking it into his pocket as he disappeared inside his room.

…

"Hey, Gustavo, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Gustavo looked up to see Carlos standing in his doorway, looking small and vulnerable. He automatically looked around for the rest of his dogs and was surprised to see that the Latino was there alone.

"What do you want?" he grunted, knowing that Carlos was scared of him and therefore never came by to ask for any favors, which was fine by him.

Carlos bit his lip. "Well, I was just wondering… is the fan mail we get screened?"

Gustavo raised his eyebrows. "Only the packages. Why? Are you getting hate mail? Trust me, dog, it's part of every popstar's life."

"Not me," Carlos said, coming inside to sit on Gustavo's couch, even though he hadn't been invited to. "Kendall. He… well." He pulled out a white slip of paper and handed it to Gustavo. As the producer unfolded it he was surprised to see that it was a picture of Carlos staring at the camera, a confused, concerned look on his face.

"What's this?"

Carlos shrugged. "Kendall dropped it. I remember this, though. It was taken yesterday. Kendall was acting weird, so I followed him. Then he almost got hit by a car and—"

"Hold up!" Gustavo held up a hand to stop him. "Kendall was almost hit by a car? Why didn't I hear about this?"

The boy gave another shrug. "It was an accident. Anyways, I was there, but when he found out I was following him he got really mad. And then I saw this guy who was just staring at us." He nodded at the picture. "I'm pretty sure that's when the picture was taken. Although I didn't see a camera. Or a flash."

Gustavo rubbed his chin. "Kendall was acting weird, you said?"

"Well…" Carlos paused, like he was holding something back. "Ever since last week's fan mail. And he was okay for a while and then this week's fan mail came and… I just think something about it is bothering him."

Carlos was obviously more observant than people gave him credit for. Gustavo sighed. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," he said. "Just give him some time—"

"There's more," Carlos interrupted. "Look on the back."

Gustavo flipped the card over and stared hard at the words on the back. _Don't let him follow you again._

He looked up at Carlos, who stared at him with his large, worried doe eyes. "Thank you for giving this to me," he said slowly. "I'll see what I can do."

Carlos burst into a relieved smile. "Thanks, Gustavo."

"Carlos," Gustavo called as he turned to leave. "Keep this on the down low, got it? I don't want to freak out if this is nothing."

"No problem," Carlos nodded. He gave him another small smile and left.

…

_Her name was Alex._

The words had been echoing through Kendall's head like a broken record and he couldn't figure out why. He frowned as he sat on his bed, the cardboard box in his lap, sifting through the pictures again like they could give him the answers. He'd been avoiding the book for reasons unknown other than the fact that if creeped him out. The pictures had no other words on the back aside from the one of Carlos, which, unfortunately, he couldn't seem to find. Kendall wasn't too worried about it, but it tickled in the back of his mind like something he should pay attention to but didn't.

Sighing when the pictures turned up nothing, he grabbed the book and turned it over in his hands. It was leather front cover and back and bound by string. A journal, he guessed, or something like it. He felt intrusive even holding it. But he had to know why this guy was so obsessed with him, who Alex was, why this was suddenly happening now.

Trying not to feel like a horrible person, Kendall sighed, undid the string that looped the book closed, and opened its cover.

A girl's face smiled back at him—pale skinned with freckles, blonde hair, blue eyes, and braces. She was younger than him but not totally young, maybe thirteen or fourteen. Above the picture were the words, _This is Alex's! No peeking! (That means YOU!)_

Kendall couldn't help but smile. It reminded him of when Katie went through her journaling spout. She'd set up a million layers of security measures to make sure Kendall wouldn't read it, although he never did try.

_Her name was Alex._

_Her name _was _Alex._

Suddenly it clicked. The _'was', _the _past tense. _Her name _was _Alex. Kendall still didn't know who Alex was, or what she had to do with him. But he had a starting point.

He put the book down and rubbed his temples at the growing headache. No more for today. He wanted to just enjoy the life he had while he still had it.

"What does he want with me?" he whispered to himself.

…

"If only you knew, Kendall," Jason said aloud. He sipped his lemonade and tipped his hat towards the eleven-year-old as she passed by him.

Katie, Kendall's sister, gave him a passing smile in return as she hurried into the Palm Woods. Jason leaned back in the lawn chair and watched her go with some melancholy.

Children, always in such a hurry to grow up. Jason wished they would slow down every one in a while. Enjoy what they had before it disappeared in a heartbeat.

_Kind of like Alex._

A pang of hurt shot through Jason's chest so harshly that he felt it physically, felt the strain on his heart as if the Devil himself was squeezing the life out of it. He sat up again, trying to ease the sudden pain.

He couldn't be relaxing like he owned the place, leaning in this chair by the pool of the Palm Woods, watching as Kendall's precious friends lounged and played, completely oblivious to his presence. He had a job to do: Make Kendall Knight pay.

"For you, baby girl," he whispered into the wind, holding his lemonade up high into the air as if Alex could see it. Then he chugged the rest of it and stood up, walking briskly back to his car.

Time to put the next stages of his plan into motion.


	4. Chapter 4

**'SUP? How would you guys like an OC contest? I don't usually do them, but I've got this cool idea for an interactive story and I'd love your guys' help. :) Do me a favor though and follow the rules so we don't get kicked out. xD The details of this AWESOME INTERACTIVE OC STORY is on my profile! Please submit your characters through a PM to yours truly! Thank you guys!**

**Enjoy!**

"DOGS!"

As usual when the four boys heard the word they all flinched. It had been a long day at the studio, particularly for Carlos, who would falter every time he connected eyes with Kendall. The blonde looked like a mess—his hair was dirty, there were bags under his eyes, and his green eyes were dull and constantly held a faraway look that worried Carlos. Not to mention, each time Kendall caught Carlos looking at him Carlos remembered that he'd broken his promise to Kendall about not telling anyone and guilt would flood him.

Gustavo didn't seem interested in Carlos' lack of concentration. When they boys met him in his office he had his arms crossed over his chest and two violently large men standing behind him. One of them was Freight Train, the Hulk of a bodyguard with a baby's voice to match. The other was a blonde haired man with an easy smirk and sharp eyes almost as big as Freight Train. Kelly stood off to the right, tapping a pen nervously against her clipboard.

"Dogs," Gustavo said calmly when they walked through the door. "This is your new bodyguard, Parker."

Parker inclined his head, but said nothing.

Logan looked confused. "Why do we need a new bodyguard? We don't even use Freight Train that often."

"It has been brought to my attention that your fame level is rising," Gustavo snapped. "And I don't know about you, but you boys have been KIDNAPPED enough times to shave a few DECADES off my life!"

Kelly took over then, seeing Gustavo was losing his patience. "Parker is trained in three different kinds of martial arts. He can bench press 200 pounds easy. And he's vegetarian."

Parker smirked.

Carlos snuck a peek at Kendall. The blonde's posture was rigid, which meant that he wasn't happy about this new arrangement.

"Parker will be following you EVERY SINGLE PLACE you go," Gustavo said. "So go EVERYWHERE, TOGETHER."

"You'll barely know he's there," Kelly interjected.

James stared up at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding? He's going to cast a shadow on us at all times and completely ruin my tanning time."

"James," Carlos hissed. "The guy has feelings."

They looked at Parker. Parker arched an eyebrow at them.

"Doesn't say much, does he?" Logan whispered.

"You DOGS are excused for the day," Gustavo said, making shooing motions with his hand. "I don't want to see you again until tomorrow."

He turned around and pretended that they weren't there until they shuffled out of the room, Parker following.

Freight Train grabbed Parker's arm. "I'll be watching you guys, too," he said seriously. "Remember that it's Kendall you need to keep an eye on. I need you by his side at all times. Carlos, too—he's more likely to do something stupid than Kendall is."

Parker gave him a sharp nod and left swiftly.

"So, what do you want to do with our free day?" Carlos said, mostly to Kendall since he hadn't said a word since they'd met Parker.

"We could go to the movies," Logan suggested. "Might I remind you that none of us have seen Avengers yet?"

"Good idea," James put in. "Scarlett Johansson's my dream girl." His smile turned dreamy.

"I'm game," Carlos shrugged.

They looked to Kendall. The blonde didn't meet their gaze but nodded slowly.

So they went. Carlos found it hard to concentrate on the movie because of Kendall, who brooded from the moment he sat down. With the lights dimmed, it was hard to see his face, but Carlos was sitting right next to him and he could almost feel the hostile tension rising from Kendall as if he were screaming out loud.

"Kendall?" he whispered.

"Don't talk to me, Carlos," Kendall snapped.

Carlos tried to ignore the hurt that flooded his system. "I didn't tell Gustavo about last night," he said shakily. "I swear."

Which was true, for the most part. Carlos hated lying but he was started to worry about Kendall. Something was going on, and he wished Kendall would just tell him so he could help. But the blonde refused to answer him, let alone look him in the eye and stop lying to him.

Carlos turned back towards the flashing screen and tried not to feel completely shut out.

It was fifteen minutes or so when the fire alarm blazed on.

The boys sat up, alarmed. At first no one knew what was going on, everyone frozen while the movie played before them. Then everyone started to talk at once.

Carlos stood and looked at Kendall, who looked tense and on edge as he scanned his eyes over the people. Like he was looking for someone.

"Kendall?" he said quietly, tugging on his sleeve.

Kendall didn't pull away, which told Carlos that he was sorry about snapping at him earlier. He felt a little better, but as the people started to file out of the movie theatre he felt Parker at his back and suddenly the apprehension was back again.

"The building isn't actually on fire, is it?" James asked nervously as they tried to force their way out of the theatre.

"I don't smell any smoke," Logan shrugged. "Could be a prank."

Kendall tensed at the word _prank. _Carlos frowned when he saw it.

Parker suddenly put his heavy hand on Carlos' shoulder. Carlos looked up at the big man as he steered him and the other boys to an exit that nobody else was using.

"Where are we going?" he wanted to know.

Parker said nothing, but flashed his wallet at one of the movie workers who moved to intercept them. Parker, apparently knowing what he was doing, led them through the back halls of the movie theatre, past the front counters and video booths. Carlos had never seen this part of the theatre before, and he might've been more fascinated with seeing it if he wasn't so worried about Kendall. Other than his hurtful words to Carlos, he hadn't spoken once and it was starting to freak him out.

Eventually they exited the theatre into the sun. They were at the back of the theatre, which had a distinctive void of crowds. Carlos realized that Parker made sure they weren't caught up in the crowd on purpose—probably to make sure they weren't separated in the frenzy. Smart, even though it made Carlos even more nervous that something bad was going to happen.

"Sorry about this," a female movie theatre employee said, popping out in front of them as they started to walk back to the car. "Here, have these free passes. We apologize for the interruption in your movie. Those passes don't expire—come back any time."

"Thank you," Logan said for them as he flashed a smile at her.

"Wait," Carlos said as she turned to leave. "Was there a fire?"

An annoyed look passed onto her face. "No—some clown pulled the alarm. Due to procedure we have to close the theatre for an investigation, but it will be open again in a couple of hours."

She returned Carlos' smile and moved on. Carlos looked at his pass. "Cool," he said. "Now we can go to the movies for free."

He looked at Kendall to gage his reaction, but the blonde was staring somewhere off to the left. The same trapped, terrified look was frozen on his face. Carlos was starting to know the expression well as he looked where Kendall was staring, just in time to see the ends of a long black coat disappearing around the corner of the movie theatre.

…

Kendall was pissed.

It was the only emotion he could get a grip on and not completely flip out. He was angry at Carlos for talking to Gustavo—because why else would the producer suddenly hire a bodyguard for them? Freight Train was usually enough when they went out in public. This was Kendall's _home, _his _life. _He felt comfortable here. Or at least, he used to. He had to admit that a little part of him felt more protected with Parker there. But the other part was worried about how the Man in Black would take it.

There was another thing to be mad at. Kendall was positive, beyond a doubt, that the Man in Black was the one who pulled the fire alarm. To scare him, probably. Or to remind him that having fun was out of the question while he was being stalked by a total psycho.

The ride to the Palm Woods was oddly silent. Logan and James had obviously noticed that Kendall wasn't talkative today. Kendall was surprised at their previous obliviousness and tried not to hold it against them. It wasn't his friends he was angry at. It was this whole mess.

Who was Alex? The question returned to his head for the umpteenth time that day. Kendall wanted to return to the apartment as soon as possible so he could look through the book. Aside from the inside cover and the pictures, he knew nothing about the girl. Why was she so important to the Man in Black? And what did she have to do with Kendall?

"Kendall?"

Kendall turned his head slightly and gave a quiet sigh. "I'm fine, Carlos. I wish you would stop asking that." His voice had sharpened unconsciously by the end of his sentence, and Carlos winced.

Guilt rose within him and Kendall had to fight to keep it down. Carlos cared too much. That was the problem. Kendall wished he could tell him that he was trying to protect him by being so harsh towards the Latino, but that would only light the fire within Carlos. Kendall couldn't afford to have that happen. Whatever the Man in Black did to him he could take, but if he went after his friends Kendall would never be able to live with himself.

"I'm just worried," Carlos said quietly. "I… saw that man again."

Kendall stiffened. He couldn't have actually _spotted _the Man in Black… could he? "What man?" He tried to say it casually, but his voice shook more than he could control.

Carlos studied Kendall like he was trying to gauge if he was lying or not. "No one, I guess," he said finally, turning back towards the front.

Kendall looked to see if James and Logan had overheard their conversation, but they were busy in an intense thumb wrestling war. The sight of it made Kendall smile. Finally something normal he could deal with.

Parker finally pulled into the Palm Woods parking lot. Kendall got out and started to hurry into the apartment.

"Kendall?" Logan called. "Where you going? I thought we were going to hang by the pool."

Kendall had completely forgotten promising that. He hesitated by the elevator doors. "I'm just going to grab something from the apartment," he said. "Be down soon."

Carlos frowned at him, and so did Parker, but the elevator doors opened and Kendall slipped inside.

He sighed in relief. His friends were starting to suffocate him and it was getting exhausting having to lie and dodge them all the time. Not to mention Parker was required to shadow them at all times. Kendall only prayed that Parker would let him be if he knew Kendall was only in his apartment and that he wasn't going to do anything stupid.

As soon as he opened the door to his apartment the phone rang. And not the phone that was hooked up to his mother's phone jack. It was Kendall's disposable phone, the one the Man in Black had given him in the package.

Kendall didn't move for a second. The phone was in his pocket but he made no move to answer the call. He had an irrational thought that if he stopped playing this crazy guy's game, he would leave him alone. But then he remembered the pictures, and the man's warning about letting Carlos follow him again, and Alex.

He pulled out the phone and answered it. Licking his suddenly dry lips, he said shakily, "Hello?"

"_Did you like my present?"_

"You mean the fire alarm?" Kendall thought about it. "No, not really."

"_You should've known better that going to the _movies _while I'm in the middle of getting my revenge is something you can't do."_

"So you're admitting that you're getting revenge?" Kendall challenged him. "Because I still have no idea what you want from me."

The man snarled in annoyance. _"I want you to get rid of that shadow of yours."_

"Why? Is he making you nervous?"

"_Just one more person to kill."_

The way he said that made Kendall chill to the bone. His eyes widened and for a second he was a loss for words. "What… what's that supposed to mean?"

"_That's for me to know." _The man sounded smug. _"Get rid of Parker or I will for you."_

"Wait!" Kendall protested. "How am I supposed to do that? Why are you doing this? I never did anything to you!"

"_Never did anything?" _The man suddenly returned, his smugness evaporating in a second. Now he sounded like a raging bull. _"You did _everything! _You killed my daughter!"_

"No," Kendall denied. "I didn't kill anybody."

"_Tell that to her tombstone!"_

Kendall felt like this conversation was spiraling downhill fast. "I am telling you, I have never touched or hurt anyone in any way, shape, or form. Ever. At least, not intentionally."

"_Not intentionally." _The man sighed. _"No, probably not. But that doesn't matter. Alex is dead because of you. And I guess the only way to make you understand the pain I'm feeling is to take someone _you _love from you, forever. So who's it going to be, Kendall? Your beautiful little sister, Katie?"_

"No!"

"_Your mother? Your girlfriend, Jo, in New Zealand? That would take some work, but if it makes us even, I'll do it."_

Kendall wanted to scream. "Leave them out of this. I don't know what your problem is, but it's with me, not them."

"_Coward," _the man snapped. _"How very like you, who would rather kill yourself than face the consequences of you ignoring a simple girl's wish. I hope you're happy with your life, because I will end it. And soon."_

The phone was yanked from Kendall's grasp. The blonde looked up through shocked tears at Carlos as the Latino placed the phone to his ear.

"Leave Kendall alone," he yelled into the phone. "I don't know who you are, but you've been following us and I swear if you hurt my friend, I will drag you to jail myself."

He paused for a second, looking at Kendall with a hard gaze. "You won't get that close," he said in a voice Kendall had never heard him use before. And then he flipped the phone closed and hung up on the Man in Black.

Parker was behind Carlos. Kendall hadn't even heard them come in. As Kendall looked past Parker he spotted Logan and James peeking into the apartment with concerned expressions. Carlos sat down next to Kendall, who didn't even realize he'd collapsed to his knees during the conversation, and wrapped his arms around Kendall's trembling form.

The two other boys came in and sat by Kendall as well, and though it was better with his friends there, it still took another hour before the blonde would stop shaking.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hm, I feel incredibly bad for completely ignoring Revenge of Atticus Moon... I'm just so hooked on this fic I can't stop writing it! *sigh* I'll get on it ASAP, promise. :P **

**Anywho, look at that! We can in a full circle! Don't you just love it when that happens? xD**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

Kendall had never been so overwhelmed in his life. He sat with his back to the sliding glass doors of his balcony and just stared at the wall, trying to sort through his thoughts. He could hear the others talking to him, could even make out the words they were saying, but he couldn't listen right now. He needed to get a grip before he completely lost it.

Carlos put something in his hands, and when Kendall went to look at it he saw that it was the picture the Man in Black took of Carlos, with the warning on the back. The one that had gone missing. Kendall tore his eyes from the words to look in Carlos', rocked to the core.

"You knew," he whispered. "The whole time?"

Carlos bit his lip, settling for a nod.

Kendall dropped his face into his hands.

"Kendall," Logan said softly, kneeling in front of him. "What's going on? You need to tell us."

"I can't," Kendall breathed shakily. He wanted to, _so bad, _but every instinct was screaming at him not to let them get involved.

"Yes you can," Carlos said. He only raised his voice slightly, to be firm, but it made Kendall jump. His features softened. "Kendall… if you're not going to tell them, I will. I might not know the whole story but I know enough to call the police—"

"Don't," Kendall growled, interrupting him. Carlos fell silent. Kendall pulled his head from his hands to look at them, Parker standing in the background with crossed arms. Oddly enough, the bodyguard sent a nod in his direction and Kendall felt the support from the stranger. He ran a hand through his shortened blonde hair.

"Last week," he sighed, "I got… a letter. Not even a letter, though. Like, a note. And all it said was that he was watching me, and not to tell anyone."

"That's why you were so weird last week," James noted.

Kendall nodded. "I tried to ignore it. This week, another letter came, but it was worse. It had… pictures. Of us, all of us. Me, you guys, Mom and Katie, all taken at random moments of our lives. Same warning not to tell anyone, and that he was watching me.

"I tried to tell Gustavo, but he wasn't in and I guess I just didn't have the guts to do it." Kendall stood and started to pace. "I was walking by the Palm Woods Park and I was blinded by something—"

"A camera flash," Carlos put in.

Kendall cringed. "Yeah. A camera flash blinded me and I almost got hit by a car. Carlos was there, though. And The Man in Black—that's what I call him—he was there too. I keep seeing him everywhere. Most times, when he wants me to know he's there, he wears all black. Black coat, black sunglasses, black hat, black shoes… He's stalking me, I'm sure of it. That's… kind of what I was so mad at you for, Carlos," he admitted to the Latino. "Because he told me not to tell anyone, and you were just so persistent. You kept insisting on knowing what was going on."

"I just wanted to help," Carlos said in a small voice.

"I know," Kendall said, smiling tiredly for the first time. "But I was trying to keep you out of it, Carlos. I just wanted to protect you."

Carlos looked like he was about to rebut that but Logan spoke up. "Is that where the picture came from?"

Kendall gave him a surprised look, and Logan shrugged. "Carlos showed us the picture when you came up here a few minutes ago. Doesn't take a genius to put two and two together."

"Yeah," Kendall agreed. He got up and disappeared into his room for a moment before returning, a small cardboard box in his hands. "This came for me yesterday," he murmured. "It had a disposable phone, a journal, and more pictures."

He set the box down on the floor and let the other three boys look through it. He kept his eyes on the floor, terrified of the expressions he might see on his friends' faces. How had it come to this? He was supposed to keep it a secret—but then, he had never been good at keeping secrets, and his friends were always too good at finding them out.

Only when he felt James' hand on his shoulder did Kendall look up again. The three other boys were staring grimly at him, more in concern for his emotional state than the pictures they'd just seen.

Kendall took a shaky breath. "Well… last night I got a phone call from this guy. He, uh, told me about a girl named Alex. I think that journal is hers, but I haven't… really looked through it yet. I'm pretty sure he was the one who pulled the fire alarm in the movie theatre today. He called me as soon as we got back."

"He openly threatened you," Carlos said, with hard eyes. "All of us, but mostly you. I swear, when I get my hands on him—"

"Carlos," Kendall sighed. He didn't continue, and Carlos didn't push him. Kendall's face burned with shame and embarrassment at being caught in his own lie. He's never felt so much self-loathing. "I'm sorry I got you guys into this," he muttered.

"It's not your fault," Logan said firmly.

"Yeah," James agreed. "This guy's a crazy nut job. What does he even want with you, anyways?"

Kendall lifted his shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "He said I killed his daughter," he muttered miserably. "And he told me that if I was going to feel what he felt then he was going to have to take something important away from me." He lifted his dulled green eyes to his friends. "One of you guys. Or Katie. Or Mom."

"Kendall," Logan said seriously. "You need to tell the police this. This guy is stalking you, and threatening you, and harassing you. He could go to jail for this."

"No," Kendall said firmly. "He told me he'd kill you guys if I told anyone. Now that you know, I don't know what's going to happen… but we can't tell the cops." He shuddered. "Not yet."

Carlos was the first to pull him into a hug, his helmet almost falling off as he buried his face into Kendall's shoulder. Logan and James joined him a beat later. Usually Kendall would feel sheepish to the max with the display of affection, but now it was all he could do not to cry from the sheer appreciation he had for his friends.

"Come on," Carlos said, nudging Kendall with his shoulder. "Let's go get dinner. You need some cheering up."

"Somehow I doubt this guy is going to let us have dinner in peace, Carlos," Kendall muttered.

"Well, we just won't let him bother us," Logan said, standing and giving Kendall a hand up. "If the fire alarm goes off, we'll just ignore it and eat our food."

"What if there's actually a fire?" James pointed out. "Dude, you know chicks don't go for guys who smell like smoke for a week."

Kendall rolled his eyes, but understood the effort they were going through to cheer him up. He allowed a wan smile. "Alright," he agreed. "Let's go eat."

…

"Ah, Kendall," Jason sighed, pulling the binoculars from his eyes. He sat back in his car seat, feeling drained. "Now, why did you have to go and do that?"

He didn't want to kill anyone but Kendall. That was his original plan. But now all four boys knew what was going on. Not to mention that idiot bodyguard, Parker. Kendall hadn't done as ordered and now, Jason knew, he had to pay the price.

He put his car into gear and pulled out of the Palm Woods parking lot, headed for the building to prepare for the next phase.

…

"Hi!"

Carlos skittered back a step with wide eyes, staring at the man who'd popped out in front of him like a jack-in-the-box. "Um, hi?"

"I'm Eddie," he said cheerfully. "I'm your driver for today."

Carlos eyed him suspiciously. He was way too small to be the Man in Black—Eddie's max height was five-foot-four, tops. He was Carlos' height, which was weird because then James, Kendall, and Logan were taller than him even though he looked like he was in his late forties, at least.

Kendall looked at Parker for confirmation, and the bodyguard broke into a smile.

"Parkerrrr," Eddie grinned, drawing out Parker's name like it was a homerun. He slapped Parker's hand and snapped his fingers. "Tell your charges it's alright, I'm a good guy."

Parker quirked an eyebrow at him. Eddie held up his hands. "Alright, maybe not a _good guy, _but I'm a _good _guy, am I not?"

The blonde bodyguard rolled his eyes, and then nodded at Kendall to confirm that Eddie wasn't a psycho person who was going to kidnap them and whisk them away to who-knows-where.

They clambered into the car. Logan tapped Eddie on the shoulder while Parker got into the shotgun seat. "Can you take us somewhere nice?" he requested. "To eat, I mean. We just kind of want to relax."

"Nothing too fancy," Carlos called up from the way back where he sat next to James. "I want corndogs!"

Eddie smirked and pulled out into the street.

They drove for a few minutes before pulling into a small diner that looked like it had been spray painted onto a Cinderella backdrop. The building itself was white and blue, and the pathway glittered. Carlos made a face as they parked.

"This place looks weird," he complained.

"Don't knock it till you try it," Eddie said, raising an eyebrow at him. "I take my kids here all the time. Ah, you might want to leave your helmet in here," he suggested.

Carlos immediately pouted at him, but Kendall rolled his eyes and knocked it off of Carlos' head. "Come on, short stuff," he said, getting out of the van. "It'll still be here when you come back."

Eddie rolled the windows down before turning the ignition off.

"Isn't that unsafe?" Logan pointed out.

"It's hot, kid," Eddie said, raising an eyebrow. "Don't worry, I have a good security system just in case anybody wants to start the engine."

They walked into the restaurant and were seated at a table. Kendall's eyebrows rose as each item on the menu surprised him. "Um… what are Frog Kisses?"

"They're baked potatoes with green dye," Eddie smirked.

"Hi, my name is Carrie and I'll be your server today," a pretty brunette woman said, taking out a notebook. "Can I get your order?"

Carlos busily scanned the menu he held clenched in his hands, eyebrows scrunching together so hard it looked painful. Finally he slapped it down the table, crossed his arms, and pouted. "They don't have corndogs!"

Logan chuckled. "They wouldn't, Carlos, this place is kind of a special restaurant and I doubt the cook would put corndogs on the menu."

"We have hot dogs," the waitress offered.

"But—" Carlos broke off as he noticed the stern look Logan shot him across the table. "Fine," he said sulkily. "But not the weird grill kind."

The rest of the boys ordered and the waitress picked up their menus and left. They sat in silence—Carlos sulking, Logan and James staring intently at Kendall, and Kendall avoiding them—until the waitress reappeared with their orders.

"That was fast," Logan commented and he tilted his head at his plate. He had ordered the hamburger sliders, and it looked like sliders alright—with a dash of glitter. "This place is like fairytale land."

"Cool!" Carlos said excitedly when his miniature hot dogs came arranged in the shape of an ogre.

"I feel like a kid," James said, shaking his head.

Kendall grinned. Despite its ridiculousness, this restaurant was exactly what he needed. "Come on, guys," he needled. "It's food, isn't it? Let's make the most of it. Besides, you never know until you try it."

Logan and James sent him scathing glares. Carlos dug into his hot dogs and didn't seem to mind that they weren't of his corndog variety.

Fifteen minutes later the only people who had really eaten were Carlos, Kendall, and Parker. The bodyguard could put away food like he was dealing blows to bad guys. Kendall ate to keep from talking to James and Logan, who looked more concerned with him than their food.

Carrie came by when she saw the boys' eating slowing. "You guys want the check now?" the waitress asked, politely ignoring the untouched food.

Kendall started to stand. "Yes, please." He patted his pockets, absent look fading into a frown. "Oh, crap," he groaned. "I left my wallet in the car."

Carlos jumped up immediately. "I'll get it!" he said cheerfully.

"You really don't have to," Kendall started to say, but Carlos was already making a beeline for the door.

Parker arched an eyebrow in Kendall's direction—the bodyguard never really said much—and stood, following Carlos to the door.

"I got it," Logan said, smiling at the waitress and pressing three twenty-dollar bills in her hand. "You can keep the change." He tucked his wallet away and stood, walking with his friends to the door. Eddie fell into step behind them, tossing Kendall the keys to help Carlos get into the car.

Carlos was already to the van, Parker jogging to keep up with him. Logan watched with amusement as he dove into the open window and nearly lodged himself halfway in the minivan before scrambling out, strapping his hockey helmet onto his head and patting it twice. Then he pulled something out of his pocket and triumphantly held it up for the world to see.

"It's okay, Carlos!" Kendall called, waving the keys as they started to walk to the minivan. "We paid already!"

Apparently the Latino boy couldn't hear him, because he started to walk to them. Kendall unlocked the minivan.

There was a flash of light that blinded Logan almost before the explosion deafened him, rocking him off his feet and sending him crashing to the ground. Heat practically peeled back the skin on his face. Disoriented, Logan looked up, ears ringing, spots flashing in front of his eyes, just in time to see the mushroom of fire and smoke billowing up from the minivan.

"Carlos," he whispered as his vision started to fade.


	6. Chapter 6

**WARNING: More swearing than usual in this chapter. I apologize in advance, but it seemed to fit. :P**

**Also, my OC contest thing is still ongoing! I won't be writing it for a while so I'm taking as many OCs as possible! Look on my profile for more details. :)**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

"_No news yet on the condition of Big Time Rush member Carlos Garcia, who was involved in an explosion earlier this evening. Police have confirmed one death, although we are reassured that none of the sixteen-year-olds—Kendall Knight, Logan Mitchell, James Diamond, and Carlos—were killed in the explosion. Karen Whitney has the report."_

"_Thanks Jack. I'm here outside—"_

"Turn that thing off," Kendall sighed.

A click later the TV screen turned black. James sat back in his chair and ran a hand over his face. Aside from the butterfly bandage taped over his left eyebrow, he looked no worse for wear. Kendall hadn't received injury at all. Logan had needed stitches after the explosion knocked him to the ground, but all things considered, they could've been a lot worse off.

All three sat in Carlos' hospital room. There were guards posted outside the door, as well as all of the entrances and exits to the hospital. Kendall didn't see how it would help, since they didn't know what the Man in Black looked like. When he wasn't wearing black he could be anybody.

Carlos' heart monitor beeped steadily, which was, honestly, the only thing keeping Kendall going. It was a miracle he could even hear anything in the first place—for the first fifteen minutes after the blast Kendall couldn't hear anything. As it was his ears were still ringing, and he had a hard time balancing every time he went to walk somewhere.

The Latino had suffered from second and third degree burns to his back and neck. The force of the blast had knocked him eight feet, so he also had a nasty concussion and road rash in random places. Kendall had been awake to hear him scream when the paramedics touched his back. As it was now, Carlos was lying on his side, facing Kendall. His eyes were closed. He hadn't regained consciousness since he'd passed out in the ambulance.

He should be dead. In reality, if Carlos hadn't been wearing his helmet the trauma from both the explosion and hitting the ground would have killed him on impact. Kendall would never tell him to take it off again.

"This is all my fault," he muttered.

"Don't say that," Logan snapped, speaking for the first time since waking.

"It is, though, isn't it?" Kendall argued. "This all started with me. The Man in Black told me not to tell anyone, and then I did, and now look what happened."

"You had no idea he would do this," James said quietly. "No way of knowing anyone would get hurt."

"But people did get hurt," Kendall said. "Carlos got hurt. _Carlos, _the only one of us who was brave enough to do anything." He gripped the chair's arms. "Parker's dead. A guy whose first name I don't even know."

A knock on the door interrupted his rant. He looked up and spotted Freight Train peering through the rectangular window in the door. He nodded, and the door opened, revealing two detectives—one in a suit, one in a battered leather jacket.

The one in the suit nodded at him. "Hello, boys, I'm Detective Wilkes. This is my partner Detective Press. Is it alright if we ask you some questions?"

Kendall didn't answer for a moment, trying to decide on how to respond. He'd already answered so many questions already… and he wasn't sure he wanted to admit his story to the police, especially after what happened to Carlos. But he knew if he didn't say anything, Logan or James would. And they knew the whole story. So he nodded, and the two detectives stepped inside.

"So, Kendall," Press said, turning to the blonde. "From the reports we've gotten you said you have a stalker?"

Kendall shifted uncomfortably in the chair. "Well… he's been following me a little over a week now, so, yeah."

"And he hasn't made any attempt to harm you or your friends in any way?" Wilkes continued.

Kendall shook his head. "He did threaten though," he said. "Many times. Told me not to tell anybody or something would happen." He gestured uselessly at Carlos.

Wilkes nodded and scribbled something down on his pad. "Have you seen him?"

"Yes." Kendall described him as best he could.

"That's definitive," Press sighed.

"Sorry."

The detective flashed a smile at him and turned to the other two. "What about you boys? Did you see anything?"

Logan shrugged. "Honestly, the guy you want to talk to is Carlos." He inclined his head towards the bed. "He was the one who noticed Kendall was acting strange."

"Strange?" Wilkes inquired, looking at Kendall.

"Off," James added. "Just in a generally bad mood. He didn't want to do anything with us."

Kendall sighed. "He told me not to tell you. I didn't know how to deal with it. Not very well, I guess."

"It's not your fault," Logan said firmly. He looked at the detectives. "Look, all we know is that one minute, we're fine, and the next our car is exploding."

"Your car?" Press echoed. "I thought this vehicle belonged to your driver."

"Well, yeah," Kendall said.

"Who you just met today?"

Logan sighed. "Eddie was with us the entire time inside the restaurant. He couldn't have rigged our car to blow."

"How long were you in there?" Wilkes asked.

The boys looked at each other, and Kendall shrugged. "Forty-five minutes, maybe," he said. "We didn't really eat much."

"Enough to plant the bomb," Press noted.

Kendall leaned forward. "So it was a bomb," he said, just to confirm. The two detectives nodded, and he sat back and ran a hand over his face. "Damn."

A phone rang, shattering the brief silence. Kendall's eyes widened as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the disposable phone. He looked at the detectives.

"It's him."

The two swore as one, Wilkes taking out his phone at the same time Press threw the door open and hollered, "We needed that trace five minutes ago!"

"What do I do?" Kendall asked, panic edging into his voice.

"Just relax," Wilkes said, flipping through the aps on his phone. "You have five rings until it hangs up."

It was on the third. Kendall looked at the detective as he finally found what he was looking for. "Put it on speaker," he said.

Kendall found the speaker phone button and pressed it. Instantly he could hear the Man in Black's breathing echoing through the speakers.

"_I told you not to tell anyone." _

"I didn't really have a choice when you _blew up _my car," Kendall said in a shaky voice.

The Man in Black chuckled. _"Believe me, you always have a choice. I only planted that bomb when you told your little friends about me."_

"What was I supposed to do?" Kendall demanded. "You kept calling when you knew they were around. You _wanted _this to happen just so you'd have an excuse to hurt my friends."

"_Fair enough." _

Press returned with a box, some wires, and a laptop. He hurriedly began to set up silently the computer to Kendall's phone. Wilkes scribbled something a pad and paper and turned it towards Kendall.

_Ask him why a bomb?_

Kendall took a deep breath. "Why the bomb?" he said. "I could've been killed in that blast."

"_Yes, it was unfortunate that a stranger was the one fatality," _the man said in distaste. _"It was only meant to scare you. All flash and no substance, as they say. Although it was more substance than I'd hoped for."_

Kendall flashed a confused look at Logan and James, and then at the detectives. That sounded like he didn't mean to hurt anyone with the bomb. So either he over-calculated the force of the explosion, or somebody else made the bomb too big.

Wilkes turned to a new page and scribbled something else.

_Who is he?_

"Who are you?" Kendall asked. "Really. I need to know."

"_You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" _The man sounded amused. _"Your detective skills need work, Kendall. I gave you enough clues as it is."_

"You look like a walking ad for funeral attire," Kendall snapped. "I don't know you."

"_Ah, but you would if you looked in the right places."_

Press flashed both hands at Wilkes three times. Thirty more seconds to get the trace set up.

"_Unfortunately, Kendall, this is where I leave you." _

"What?"

"_Oh, don't sound so disappointed. You'll more of me soon. And tell your police friends listening in on this call that I like a challenge."_

A chill went through Kendall as the line was severed. He looked at Press, who swung the laptop at Wilkes.

"That son of a bitch," Wilkes said, standing up. He pointed at the boys. "Stay here. Don't go anywhere, don't let anyone in unless it's me or Press. Got it?"

"Why?" Logan demanded, standing up. "What's wrong?"

"Stay here!"

The door slammed shut. Logan slowly sat back down.

"How did this happen?" he asked rhetorically.

"He's here," Kendall said. "He's in the hospital. That's why they're so riled up." He sighed. "Oh, my God…"

"It's okay, Kendall," James said, scooting his chair closer to his friend's. "We'll be fine. Carlos will be fine and the cops will catch the jerk doing this. Okay?"

"Yeah," Logan agreed. "Just relax. We're here for you."

"How can you guys say that?" Kendall said, standing up and throwing his hands up. "I lied to you, hid things from you, and acted like a jerk all week. I put you all in danger—I've got to be the worst friend in the history of bad friends."

"You were doing what you thought was right," Logan said.

"Yeah, dude, you were trying to protect us," James added. "We can't blame you for that."

"So much it's gotten us," Kendall muttered, sitting back down heavily. "Mom and Katie are in protective custody, Carlos should be dead, Parker _is _dead, and we're trapped in a hospital room while the press has a field day."

The others didn't know what to say to that, so instead of replying they all sat in silence and waited for the day to be over.

…

Eddie Winstrom was having a great day up until Parker got blown up. He was a generally happy guy, with two kids and a loving wife and a great job driving celebrities around. He considered everyone a friend, but he and Parker had a friendly rivalry—he would drive celebrities, Parker would guard celebrities, and they would competitions on who could gain more tips. Parker, though he never once spoke to Eddie or anyone else for that matter, always seemed to win.

Eddie sighed and sat back in the chair. "I told you guys this," he told the detective sitting across from him. "I was hired by some guy to take the kids somewhere for dinner. I don't know who, and I don't know what he looked like."

"Then how did he hire you?" the woman asked—her license said Penny Lang, but somehow Eddie didn't think she would appreciate him calling her that.

He shrugged. "I got a call to come to the Palm Woods and pick up Big Time Rush. To take them to my favorite place to go. He said he'd pay me over the internet and sure enough, soon as I pulled into the parking lot of the Palm Woods all the money was transferred. I didn't think much of it."

"And this guy just happened to know where your favorite place to eat was?"

"I don't know, okay?" Eddie said, starting to get frustrated. "I did what I was told to do. Parker wouldn't have let the kids go with me if I wasn't legit. You can look up my company. I have a ton of recommendations from people you might recognize."

The detective bit her lip, then stood up. "Alright, Mr. Winstrom," she said finally. "You're free to go. Please don't leave town in case we need to get in contact with you."

"Understood." Eddie stood up and shook her hand.

He was walking to his car—his personal vehicle—when his phone rang.

"_I felt the need to tell you that your performance was outstanding."_

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Eddie growled. "Can I have my daughters back now?"

"_Not yet." _The man's voice was grating in his ear. _"I have one more task for you."_

"You can't do this," Eddie protested. "You didn't say anyone would get hurt. Parker _died, _okay? I am not helping you—"

"_Daddy?"_

Eddie's breath caught. "Lindsey? Honey, are you okay?"

"_I'm fine, Dad, just don't—" _There was a short gasp and his daughter was gone.

"Lindsey! I swear to God—"

"_I wouldn't," _the man said. _"Just do as I say and your family will be back home in no time."_

Eddie gripped the phone and closed his eyes for a brief second. "What do you want me to do?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Like my cover? :D I made it myself. *buffs nails* So, yeah, I discovered the image-thingy and went a little crazy. xD What can I say, the things are fun!**

**This one's for you, Halo. :P**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

Logan couldn't sleep.

He glanced at the clock on the wall, its glowing red numbers basking the room in the dimmest of light. 1:42. In the morning. _Wonderful._

Well, there was no way he was getting back to bed again. Logan sat up a little in the chair, surprised to feel a stark pillow behind his head, and a thin blanket over him. He looked across the room—Kendall was fitfully tossing and turning on the floor with his own pillow and blanket; James was leaning against the wall, his pillow tucked between his chest and his knees as his legs were drawn up to his chest; sometime during the night Kendall's mom had snuck in with Katie and was currently sleeping in the chair next to Logan's, and Katie had crawled into the bed with Carlos, carefully positioning herself so she wouldn't touch him.

"Can't sleep, huh?"

James' voice was husky and thick with exhaustion. Logan looked at him and saw that his eyes were half-lidded, but open.

He shook his head. "I'm not sure how anyone can."

"Tell me about it." James sighed heavily. "First chance, I saw the explosion again as soon as I closed my eyes. I really thought…"

"I know," Logan said. "Me too."

They were quiet for a few minutes before Logan carefully threw his blanket off of him.

"What are you doing?" James inquired, puzzled.

"Going for a walk," Logan said, standing and stretching. "I'm going to go crazy cooped up in here."

"I'm coming with you," James said.

"You don't have to."

James chuckled. "Well, there is some crazy stalker running around. I think the buddy system is in order."

"You know what the buddy system is?"

His friend sent him an insulted look, and Logan cracked a smile. At least some things never change.

James quietly rapped his knuckles on the door, making sure not to wake the others. As he did a tired-looking bodyguard opened the door and poked his head through the crack.

"You shouldn't be up at this time of night," he whispered to them.

"Can't sleep," James shrugged. "Thought about going for a walk."

The man looked uncertain. "But my partner left to get some food," he protested. "I can't leave my post to protect you. You have to stay here until he comes back."

Logan frowned at him. "We're not going anywhere," he said. "Just for a walk around the hospital."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Mitchell," the bodyguard apologized. "There's nothing I—"

"Oh, stand down, Daniels," came a familiar, if not quieter, voice. Eddie came up behind him, patting him on the shoulder. "I'll walk them around."

Daniels gave him a confused look. "Um, Mr. Winstrom, I don't think—"

"It's alright," James said quickly. "Eddie was a friend of Parker's. He's fine."

The young bodyguard, who must've obviously been new, still didn't look convinced. But when Eddie gave him a nod, he sighed and waved them through.

"Thanks for coming to our rescue," Logan told Eddie as they turned the corner, walking towards the elevator.

"Yeah, well, it's the least I can do," Eddie said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry about your car."

Eddie laughed humorlessly. "Kid, the car was nothing. Money can buy a new car."

James, quicker than Logan, figured out what he was talking about. "Sorry about Parker."

"Don't worry about it." Eddie turned towards them in front of the elevator, intensity in his dark eyes. "Parker was a good guy," he said. "Better than me by far. This guy killed him."

Logan stopped and glanced at James. He liked the smirking, happy-go-lucky Eddie better.

"What are you saying?" James asked.

Eddie fixed them with a look so harsh Logan almost took a step back. Then his face softened. "My daughters love you," he said finally, turning away.

"Cool." James threw Logan's look back. He was weirded out, too.

The elevator doors dinged open, and Logan and James stepped in with Eddie. They were only going down one floor, to the dining area, but the ride was suddenly tense and silent. Logan wondered if Eddie had anything to do with the bomb being in his own car—but then, that was stupid, wasn't it? Eddie wouldn't take them to the restaurant and give Kendall the keys to the car, not knowing when he would unlock the car. The Man in Black said it himself—the thing was meant to scare, not kill.

Another ding, and the elevator doors slid open. Logan was about to step out when a man placed himself in front of him. Although the lights were dimmed, Logan could make out the man's angular face, sunglasses, and brimmed black baseball cap. He flashed Logan a crooked smile, and then lifted his head to Eddie.

"Very good, Mr. Winstrom," he congratulated. "It seems you fulfilled your service. And I suppose now you want your reward."

Eddie said nothing. Logan looked between him and the new man and with a click, it all came together. Logan grabbed James' sleeve, ready to bolt.

A soft _thump _broke the sudden silence. Eddie managed a gasp, thrown backward into the elevator before collapsing to the floor. Logan and James froze, staring at him and then the man in black. He waved a pistol, complete with the small barrel silencer, at them and smiled.

"Don't worry," he told them. "He'll live. Maybe. Now, how about that walk?"

…

"_No!"_

Kendall shot bolt upright, shaking and gasping, his scream already absorbed by the small hospital room's walls. He pushed his sweat-mattered blonde hair back from his face and sighed, trying to still his racing heart. All night he'd been tormented by nightmares. It was a wonder he fell asleep in the first place.

He looked around the room and noticed that James and Logan were missing, but his mom and Katie had snuck in. He'd also been given a pillow and blanket—hospital issued, obvious, since both were thin and not very comfortable, though he appreciated the gesture.

Where had Logan and James gone? It was morning—the clock read 8:12—and they might've gone to get breakfast, but Kendall doubted it. They would've waited, or woken him up and told him. Or maybe they did, and Kendall just couldn't remember. He frowned, rubbing his forehead.

"Kendall?" his mother said softly. "Are you okay?"

She sat up. He had probably woken her when he woke screaming. Guilt flooded him. "Yeah," he said hoarsely. "Nightmare. Mom, I'm so—"

Jennifer held up a hand, shaking her head. "Don't. We can have this talk when you're safe, okay?"

Kendall opened his mouth to argue, then closed it and nodded. His mother, apparently satisfied with his answer, looked around the room. "Where are Logan and James?"

He shrugged. "I was about to go ask."

A knock on the door made them both look up, and Katie sat up in bed to see a nurse poking her head through the door. Her eyes were concerned. "Are you here with James Diamond?"

Kendall could barely get his chin to nod. Fear was already seizing his muscles.

The nurse looked down at her clipboard. "He's asking for you in room 212."

"What?" Kendall shot to his feet. "What happened? Why is he in the hospital?"

A startled look settled on her face. "Um, he was admitted last night for extensive bruising on the torso, two broken ribs, and a gunshot graze to the shoulder? I just assumed—"

Kendall was shoving her aside before she could finish her sentence. Freight Train was at his side in an instant. "Did you hear about James?"

"You knew?" Kendall whirled on him in the hallway, green eyes blazing.

"Of course I did," Freight Train said, eyes narrowing. "James is fine, for now. I've got twenty-four hour guards on him. Nobody's going in or out without an ID. He's the least of our problems right now."

"What do you mean, the _least _of our—" Kendall broke off, eyes widening. "Where's Logan?"

"We don't know."

"What do you mean, you _don't know?"_

"Listen, Kendall," the big man sighed, "if you want to see James I can take you to him. But the police are searching the place top to bottom. You're going to have to stay there until they come to question you."

"Unbelievable," Kendall muttered. He slid down the wall of the hallway and dropped his head into his hands. "Unbelievable. How could he get to us here? In the hospital?"

"I don't know," Freight Train admitted. "But I do know that the hallway is more dangerous for you than anywhere else. Are you going to see James, or not?"

It took Kendall another thirty seconds, but he shook his head and stood again. "Yeah," he said. "Let's go."

If you were only looking at James from the neck up, you couldn't tell he'd been attacked. As it was the bandages crisscrossing his chest made Kendall cringe the second he laid eyes on him.

"What happened?" he asked as the door closed behind him.

James opened his eyes tiredly. "Sorry," he said gratingly. "I had to talk to the cops before I could talk to you. The Man in Black has Logan."

"Start from the beginning."

So James told him. His face burned with shame, but Kendall wasn't mad at him. Eddie, however, was another story.

"I can't believe…" He interrupted at that part, and then shook his head. "Well, actually, I can. We only knew the guy for less than a day."

"Yeah, but Parker knew him," James said quietly. "Liked him, even. And now Parker's dead, and Eddie… I don't know. Have you seen him?"

"You're the first person I came to see."

James slammed his fist into his palm, and then winced. "I can't believe I didn't stop him."

"What happened after he shot Eddie?"

"He told us to keep walking. He hid his gun, and told us not to look at any of the nurses passing by. Then he took us outside the hospital and shot me, then kicked me a bunch of times. Logan tried to stop him but he hit him with his gun and I don't remember what happened after that."

Kendall was quiet for a minute. "And you saw his face up close."

James nodded. "Never seen him before. Sorry, Kendall."

"Don't worry about it," Kendall sighed. "The police will find Logan, I know it."

The brunette nodded, and Kendall stood up. "I'm going to go see if you can move into the room with Carlos so I don't have to keep going between you two."

"Has he woken up yet?"

"Not that I know of."

James sighed. "Alright. I'll be here."

"You better be." The joke fell flat but James managed a smile, and Kendall left the room.

"Back to Carlos'?" Freight Train asked.

"Yeah." Kendall tugged on his sleeve. "Can you see if they can move James into Carlos' room?" Freight Train nodded. "And… can you get the journal from my apartment? It should be on the table in the cardboard box."

The bodyguard apparently didn't need to ask what the journal was. He gave him another nod and took Kendall back to Carlos' room. Katie was up, pulling her hair into a ponytail when he came in.

"Well?" his mother inquired. "How is he?"

"Doctors say he'll be fine," Kendall said, sitting down heavily in the chair. "It's Logan I'm worried about."

…

"You shot him."

Jason looked over at the kid as he tightened the zip tie. "I've shot a lot of people, kid, you're going to have to be more specific."

Logan Mitchell scowled. "Eddie. You shot Eddie. Why?"

"He was a loose end."

"So was James."

"And I shot him, too, so why aren't you more concerned about your friend?" Jason raised an eyebrow at him. "Or yourself, for that matter?"

The kid shrugged as best he could tied to a chair. "James was right outside of the hospital, and that bullet only grazed him. As for me… I'm a hostage. Which means I'm your only chip to getting out alive. Which means you're not going to kill me… yet."

"And _yet_ seems to be the operative word, isn't it?"

Logan shook his head. _"Why _are you doing this?"

Jason walked around the chair to the table, the only other thing in the empty room. This warehouse had been abandoned for a long time. It was, quite frankly, the perfect place to hide people. He poured himself a drink—Mulbec, something he'd been saving for years. Swirling the wine around in his cup he finally answered Logan's question.

"It was four years ago," he murmured. "Alex would've been eighteen last Friday."

The kid's dark eyes were on him, even as he twisted his wrists around, trying to find a space for him to slip his hand through. Jason ignored his efforts and sipped the wine.

"There was a car crash," he said finally. "She was in the front seat, talking to her friends while I drove her to school. We never saw the truck coming. The reports said it was his fault. When I woke up again I was in the hospital and she was dead."

"I'm sorry," the kid said, much to Jason's surprise. He lowered the cup and stared at him, studying the genuine apology in the teen's face. He wanted to be a doctor, Jason remembered. Too bad that'll never happen now.

"Yeah, well." Jason downed the drink. "Anyway, Alex's mother—we've been divorced for eight years now—gave permission for those damn doctors to take her heart and rush it to some other kid." He waved his hand. "Kendall Knight."

Logan's eyes widened. "I remember that. Kendall had an irregular heartbeat… He went into cardiac arrest during a hockey game. He almost died."

"He should've, if you ask me," Jason grunted. "Took me forever to track him down. I was just gonna rough him up, maybe make him know who she was so he'd appreciate what he had. But when I found out this kid's some sort of… _celebrity..." _He made a sound of disgust. "So my little girl had to die just so this kid could become famous? How's that fair?"

"You're kidding, right?" Logan sounded incredulous. "Those doctors worked hard to save your daughter's life, but sometimes there are things even they can't do. And Kendall was going to die if he didn't receive that heart transplant. It was just lucky your daughter—"

"Luck?" Jason slammed the glass down on the table, silencing the teen. "It's not luck. It's not justice. That boy took something of mine and I want it back."

The kid looked sick to his stomach. "You can't, it's a heart, you'd have to…" His voice trailed off.

Jason felt disgusted with him. "Don't sweat it, kid, I'm not going to rip his heart out or anything." He opened the cardboard box on the table and took out the bomb. Logan sucked in a breath, and Jason had to grin tiredly at his reaction. "That doesn't mean I won't kill him."

"What are you going to do?"

Jason shrugged and set the thing in Logan's lap. "That's for me to know and you to find out." He took out a phone—the kind you get at Radio Shack, the disposable kind. "For now, we need to give your pal Kendall a call."


	8. Chapter 8

**Gah, I have no words. *fails at updating things* Anywho, thanks for getting me to 100 reviews! Again! *squees* I love you all!**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

"I want to see him!"

Press shook his head firmly. "You know as well as we do that Winstrom was helping your stalker. He could still be on his payroll."

"You're kidding, right?_" _Kendall stared at Press incredulously. "He was _shot."_

"It's not necessary—"

The blonde turned on Wilkes, fury in his eyes. "I need to know," he growled. "And Eddie may talk to me, you never know. It's a miracle he's alive—that's what you said, right? He might know where Logan is."

"Don't you think we already thought of that?" Press sighed and massaged his forehead. "We've already questioned him. There's nothing else we can learn from—"

"Maybe the kid's right, Alex," Wilkes said, studying Kendall. "Maybe he'll gloat. Or turn. He hasn't spoken a word since he woke up and we can stay with him every second."

Press glared at Wilkes. "Am I the only one bent on keeping this kid _safe?"_

"It's my decision," Kendall said stubbornly. "At the very least I deserve to know why Eddie tricked me and my friends."

As he ended his sentence the words seemed to float off into the empty hallway they were standing in. The hospital, though it was nearing noon, seemed deserted save for security guards and police officers. It was unnerving to say the least.

Ever since Kendall found out that Eddie was alive he'd been determined to speak to him. Questions floated through his head faster than he could comprehend them. All he knew was that Eddie was working for the Man in Black. He might know where Logan is. Kendall would have gladly exposed himself to freaking Al Capone if it would get Logan back—a bullet-ridden ex-friend cuffed to a hospital bed presented no threat as far as he was concerned.

Press ground his teeth, staring Kendall down. The blonde didn't flinch. He'd had more practice than this guy, and he wasn't about to give up now.

After what felt like an eternity the cop sighed heavily. "Fine. Fine, you can see him."

"Thank—"

"Five minutes _only," _Press barked, narrowing his eyes at Kendall. "And Wilkes and I are going to be glued to your side like bees to honey. Got me?"

Kendall only nodded mutely, afraid that if he opened his mouth Press would change his mind. He followed the two detectives down the hall, up the elevator, and down another hallway before they came upon a door with two police officers standing guard.

"Go ahead, kid," Press said when Kendall hesitated as he went to twist the handle.

Kendall bristled—he wasn't a kid—but turned the handle and opened the door. Eddie was sitting up, looking miserable with one wrist cuffed to the metal railing on his hospital bed and the opposite shoulder bandaged. He looked up in surprise as Kendall stepped into the room, and for a second the two did nothing but stare at each other for a long time.

Finally Eddie broke the staring contest to look out the window. "You're Lindsey's favorite."

Kendall said nothing, but Eddie looked back at him, answering the unasked question. "She's my daughter. Sings that one song—what was it? Cover Girl?—all the time. And her sister, Hannah, loves Carlos."

"So why—"

"They need me." Eddie's voice was soft, but cut through Kendall like a blade. "That… _psycho _kidnapped them."

Kendall's eyebrows furrowed. Was this a joke? Was Eddie trying to escape jail, or what?

"I got home one day," Eddie continued, sounding rushed now, as if he were afraid someone would cut him off. "And there was this box on my doorstep. Full of pictures of Linds and Hannah, and a note saying that if I didn't pick you guys up yesterday, drive you to Castle's, he would kill them. And I looked everywhere, Kendall, I did."

Apparently all Eddie needed was Kendall's presence to talk. Press and Wilkes traded disbelieving glances. Kendall was getting more out of him than they had in the last two hours.

Eddie looked exhausted from all the talking, but he didn't stop. "My wife doesn't know," he said quietly. "She's on a work trip to Florida. I didn't know what he was going to do, Kendall. If I'd known he was going to plant a bomb—that Carlos would've been hurt—I never would've…" His voice trailed off.

"Yes you would have," Kendall said, not harshly. "It's okay."

"I would help if I could."

"Can you?" Kendall leaned forward, clasping his hands. "Do you know where he is? Where he camps out? Do you know who he is?"

Eddie was shaking his head before Kendall got the last sentence out. "I never saw him except for last night," he said. "Never met him. I don't know where he is. I wish I could help, believe me."

Kendall closed his eyes. "Yeah, okay," he said, defeated. "I know you do."

"Kendall," Eddie called as he got up to leave. "Are James and Logan alright?" His eyes seemed darker, as if he were afraid of the answer.

The teen hesitated at the door, his expression tragic. "No," he said honestly. "Not at all."

He left quickly before Eddie could ask any more questions.

…

Carlos woke in a haze of confusion. His back burned a dull ache that didn't seem to go away as his eyelids fluttered and his breathing caught. Light poked into his retinas and it was too bright, so he opted to shut them again. Steady beeping—his heart monitor—alerted him to the fact that he was in the hospital, although he couldn't imagine why.

Whispers reached his ears. Carlos couldn't think straight enough to focus on them. He just lay there and listened to the comforting tones of James and Kendall, not even bothering to wonder why Logan, Mrs. Knight, and Katie didn't seem to be talking either.

…

"And we're going to come get you when the phone rings, got it?" Press said, pocketing Kendall's burn phone. "Till then, you have to _stay _in that room."

"What about Mom and Katie?" Kendall asked as he started to enter Carlos and James' room.

"We gave them a police escort and there will be twenty-four hour guards on them," Wilkes promised. "I know it's weird without your mother—"

"It's fine," Kendall interrupted, irritated and slightly embarrassed. "Stay in this room. Don't leave. Don't talk to anybody. Got it."

He slipped inside, missing the annoyed glance the two detectives shared.

"You okay?" James asked, looking up at him.

"I can't believe you're asking me that."

James blanched. "Sorry. I know you're not—"

"James," Kendall interrupted, arching an eyebrow at him. "I meant, I can't believe you're asking me that when you got _shot."_

"Oh." James shrugged with his good shoulder. "Well, you know, there's this concentrated look on your face that you only get when something's bothering you."

"I went to see Eddie," Kendall admitted. "He's fine. Pretty messed up, though. He doesn't know where Logan is." He sighed. "And I have no idea where Freight Train is. I sent him back to our apartment to get the journal—maybe it could tell us who the Man in Black is—but that was hours ago."

As if his words summoned him, there was a knock on the door and Freight Train entered. "Sorry," he said. "I got caught in traffic. Then we had to screen the journal, and—"

Kendall ignored him and snatched the journal from the big man's large brown hands. "You wanna help?" he asked James.

Freight Train shook his head. "I'll be outside if you need me."

Kendall pulled the chair in between James' bed and Carlos', putting the journal on the linen sheets. "Her name is Alex," he said, flipping it open to the first page. "I haven't really had the chance to look through it yet."

"The pages are dated," James said, pointing. "This thing is almost five years old."

"You're right," Kendall said. He leaned over to peer at the pages. "Hasn't been handled much. She'd probably be my age now."

"And her name's Alex," James said.

"Yeah."

They pored over the journal for the next hour and a half, reading the entries, looking at the pictures drawn in the margins, and learning about a girl named Alex who loved to paint and draw, who hated potatoes of any kind, and who had a massive crush on a boy named Drew. She also spoke of her father, a man named Jason.

"There," Kendall said finally, pointing at a name in one of the passages. "She said that her name was Alex Laurent. Which means her father is Jason Laurent." He tapped the page, feeling excited for the first time since this whole thing started. "That's him, James, I know it!"

"Awesome, dude," James said, smiling tiredly. "You gonna tell the cops or what?"

"Oh yeah," Kendall said, gathering up the notebook. "And then they're going to find Logan and—"

Whatever else he was about to say was cut off as the shrill ringing of a telephone interrupted him. Kendall and James looked at the side table between James and Carlos, where the landline rested.

"I didn't know they had phones there," James commented. "You gonna pick it up?"

Kendall, for some reason, had an odd feeling about it. Slowly he nodded and moved to pick the phone off of its cradle. "Hello?"

"_Missing anybody?"_

For a second Kendall's voice didn't work.

"_What's wrong, Kendall? Cat got your tongue?"_

"Jason," Kendall said quietly, throat suddenly dry. James sat up, alarmed.

"_So you did look in the journal. And here I thought you were too big of a coward." _Jason's voice seemed more human now that Kendall could match a name to it.

"Where's Logan?"

"_Safe, for now." _Jason's tone darkened. _"But that won't be for long. Tell me, are your cop friends listening?"_

Kendall's eyes darted to the door. "No."

"_Are you sure? Think really hard about that."_

"There are no police officers listening in on this," Kendall growled. "Let me talk to Logan."

"_No. Listen—if you want this kid to survive this experience you'll find a way to ditch your bodyguards and reach the payphone at the gas station two blocks west of the hospital. Understand?"_

"I understand." Kendall gripped the phone. "Please, can I talk to Logan? How do I know he's okay and you haven't just killed him already?"

Jason chuckled. _"I think you've been watching too much CSI, kid. But fine."_

A second later Logan's voice, sounding strangely calm, came on. _"Kendall."_

"Logan," Kendall said, relieved. "Are you okay?"

"_I'm fine. But you can't come, Kendall, he has a—" _Logan broke off with a sharp gasp.

"_Think you can find your way to that payphone in twenty minutes?" _Jason asked, coming on the line. _"Because that's when that line is ringing, and if you aren't there to answer it, things are going to get ugly for your future doctor."_

With a click, the phone went dead.

Kendall placed it back on its cradle and looked at James. The brunette was almost rigid, face pinched in both pain and concern.

"He wants me to meet him," Kendall said. James was already shaking his head, and Kendall rushed on. "I have to, James, he'll kill Logan if I don't."

"And how do you know he won't kill you both if you do?" James demanded. "You need to tell the police and get them to—"

"To do what, James?" Kendall interrupted, frustrated. "If he sees anyone following me Logan dies. I can't let anyone else get hurt."

"Kendall, this is _crazy."_

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can chicken out," Kendall said, setting his jaw. He grabbed his jacket. "I only have twenty minutes to reach a payphone at the gas station two blocks west from here." His green eyes held James.

James opened his mouth to argue more, and then got the message. He bit his lip and nodded. "Be careful," he said as Kendall went to leave.

"Always am," Kendall said, flashing him a rare smile.

James watched as he disappeared through the door, wondering how long of a head start he should give Kendall before calling in the police.

"Well?" he heard from across the room. Startled, James whipped his head that way, eyes widening as he saw Carlos peering back at him. The Latino's voice was scratchy and hoarse, but he was awake.

Carlos continued when he'd caught James' attention. "Are we going after him, or what?"


	9. Chapter 9

**GAH! Finally! It took FOREVER to get this written. I hate writer's block, don't you?**

**Anywho, IT'S MAH BABY'S BIRTHDAY! 'Cept he's not a baby anymore, is he? 23! _Damn. _I'm so proud. *wipes tear***

**This is wrapping up! Next chapter's the climax! **

**Enjoy!**

**...**

It took Kendall a lot of sneaking to get past the guards. First he had to convince the two posted at the door that he needed to go to the bathroom, and then he had to ditch him while he was in there. That part wasn't so difficult—he simply donned some of the scrubs piled in the cabinet above the sink and walked out with another, thankfully oblivious, doctor, not giving the bodyguard a second glance. Kendall was almost proud of his sneaking skills, but he had a job to do.

As he left the hospital he realized that he looked kind of conspicuous in blue hospital scrubs. Oh well. He had no time to change again, and even if he did he'd left his clothes back in the bathroom stall. It didn't matter if he drew attention to himself. What mattered was getting to that phone.

"Two blocks west," he mumbled, shading his eyes and peering at the sun. It was almost noon, which didn't help at all. The sun was right over his head. Kendall clenched his phone and wondered if it had a compass app. Wait—Kendall peered at the street sign to his left. Hospital Drive, East. Which meant that the gas station was the opposite way.

Kendall set off that way at a steady jog, hoping his wasn't going the wrong way.

He heard the ringing before he saw the gas station. It was tucked onto the corner across the street. Kendall started to panic when he realized he would have to wait for the light to change to cross the street. But the phone was ringing. But he had to wait.

Kendall rolled his eyes skyward, muttering a short prayer under his breath, and sprinted across the street. It was particularly busy, but a car had to slam on the brakes, honking at him as he skirted past as it came up on him. Kendall ignored it and almost slammed into the phone booth on the side of the gas station, knocking the phone off of its cradle and then fumbling it as he tried to put it to his ear.

"Hello?" he said breathlessly.

"_So you made it. Color me impressed."_

"Is Logan okay?"

"_What is it with you, kid?" _Jason sounded annoyed. _"If I wanted to kill him I would have. Now listen, because you only have half an hour to get here." _He rattled off an address.

Kendall pulled up the GPS in his phone and typed it in, frowning when it came up. "That's almost four miles from here," he protested. "I can't get there on foot in thirty minutes."

"_Tough." _Jason sounded amused. _"Figure it out, Kendall. You're smart enough."_

"Wait—"

With a click, Jason hung up. Kendall slammed the phone back onto its cradle and swore before shoving off and running a hand through his hair. What should he do? James probably sent the police after him by now, which meant they were probably already on their way now. Kendall reached for the pen hanging to the right of the phone and grabbed the phonebook, scribbling the address on the front cover and leaving it on the shelf for the police to find. Then he went to the curb and threw out his thumb. It took him two minutes and forty-three seconds, but someone finally stopped long enough for him to get in the car.

"This address, please," he murmured, hoping that whoever it was both didn't recognize and wasn't a psycho who was going to whisk him away, never to be seen again.

"So, what are you running away from? The psychiatric ward?"

Kendall looked up at the driver—a woman at least in her sixties, with a plump, round face and laugh lines in her cocoa colored skin. Her brown eyes twinkled like she knew something he didn't as she pulled out into traffic.

"I'm not running away."

"Oh, sure, son," she chuckled. "And I'm not just an old woman, looking to help out today's youth."

Kendall studied her. "I just need a ride, ma'am."

The woman scoffed. "Please, boy, call me Sadie. That is my name, you know."

Despite himself, Kendall laughed. "I'm Kendall," he said. "Nice to meet you."

"So, Kendall, you gonna tell me why you're dressed like an extra on House? And why you need a ride to this place of yours?"

Kendall shrugged. "I can't drive yet," he said carefully, answering the second question.

"Right." Sadie seemed to sense that Kendall wasn't willing to tell her anything, so she didn't push it. Instead, for the ten minute ride, they talked about other things. Kendall learned that Sadie was a recently retired charter pilot, had three children and eight grandchildren, and a husband who died four years ago. She picked up hitchhikers a lot and, as she told him brightly, had yet to be gutted like a pig by one.

Kendall, in exchange, told her about his passion for music and hockey, about his three best friends and his sister and mother. She'd listened patiently, commenting every so often and laughing when appropriate. For those ten minutes, Kendall could almost relax and forget about Jason. Almost.

"Well, here we are, son," Sadie said. She must've noticed the look of blatant panic on his face, because she leaned forward in concern. "Kendall? Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Kendall said quickly, reaching for the door handle. "Thank you for the ride, Sadie."

Sadie caught his wrist as he went to exit the car. "Kendall." He looked down into her dark brown eyes. "You be careful, you hear? I don't want to hear about you on the news."

Kendall flashed her a smile. "I don't think you have to worry about that."

Apparently satisfied with that answer, she let go and Kendall got out, closing the door and waving at her. He turned around after she'd left and stared up at the warehouse in front of him. It probably looked bigger than it really was, but he was suddenly feeling unbelievably small.

Kendall took a deep breath and walked to the door.

…

"Are you okay?"

Carlos's voice echoed behind James as it resonated through the air duct.

"I can't believe you're asking me that," James grumbled. This conversation was becoming familiar.

"I meant your ribs. And gunshot wound. You didn't have to come."

Despite Carlos' obvious pain-filled voice, he was equally obvious in his concern for James. It made James want to smack him. He wasn't the one with second-degree burns on his back.

"Of course I had to come," he grunted in response. "Besides, everything's kind of numb right now."

This was the most ridiculous idea they'd ever had. Sneaking out of a hospital via air duct to go after their friend, who had gone to rescue their other kidnapped friend from a stalking homicidal maniac, while they were both dangerously injured? It was ludicrous. Crazy. Insane.

Good thing they were known for doing ludicrous, crazy, insane things.

"We're coming up on the next room now," James whispered. It taken forever just getting up here. He had no idea how they were going to get down.

He popped off the air vent grate—surprisingly, they were all unscrewed—and slid through the opening head first. Luckily there was a couch beneath him, so the landing didn't hurt as much. Still, James hissed as his stitches pulled slightly—not enough to tear, but close.

"Sorry," he whispered to the young lady lying in the bed, staring at him in surprise. "Jail break."

Carlos slid in after him, grunting against the pain as he landed on his side. He saluted the woman, who didn't make a sound, only stared at them as they opened the door cautiously and peeked outside. Certain the coast was clear, they entered the hallway, leaving the girl speechless behind them.

"Good thing we changed before we left," Carlos whispered to James as they made off down the hall. "We look like visitors."

"Which means they should let us right through," James finished with a triumphant grin. He blinked as a pang of hurt flashed through his limbs. "We should've taken more morphine."

"You know I can't think with that stuff." Carlos absently scratched at his arm where he'd pulled out the IV. "You can still go back James."

James straightened up. "Not on your life."

"You got your phone?" Carlos asked, looking over at him.

"Yeah, yeah," James sighed. "We call the cops once we get to the gas station. I know."

Carlos grinned, although through his pain it looked more like a grimace. "Just checking."

Getting out of the hospital was a cinch. They didn't look at the policemen standing at the front entrance, and the policemen didn't look at them either. When they were a block away, Carlos finally breathed a sigh of relief.

They made it halfway down the street before a car pulled up to them. "Goodness gracious!" they heard. "Is everyone hitchhiking today?"

Carlos and James looked at each other, and then at where the voice was coming from. Leaning to the side so she could make eye contact with them was an African-American woman who looked old enough to be somebody's grandmother, amusement in her sparkling eyes. "I hope you boys are just walking because it's a nice day outside," she said. "And not because you're running away from someone."

"We're just looking for our friend," James assured her, trying not to cringe as the sort-of lie slipped out.

The woman blinked. "He wouldn't happen to be 'bout as tall as you, with blonde hair and a girl's name?"

"You saw Kendall?" Carlos nearly shoved James aside as he lunged forward.

"I offered him a ride." She studied them suspiciously. "I don't suppose you'd like a lift, too."

"Please?" James asked. Carlos was already opening her back door.

The woman smiled. "Sure, why not? The address is still fresh. I may be old, but my brain sure ain't."

James returned her smile as he got into the car.

…

"Those kids," Press seethed, "are _injured _and are being_ targeted _by a homicidal psychopath. And you just let them walk out of here?"

The two policemen who'd been posted at the front entrance didn't seem as intimidated as he wanted them to be. "Detective," one of them said, "you never provided us with pictures of—"

"They're celebrities!" Press shouted. "You should've recognized them on sight!"

"Press," Wilkes said soothingly, putting a hand on his arm. "It's not their fault. We should've kept an eye on them ourselves."

"How did this go so wrong, Michael?" Press groaned as they walked back to the boys' room. "We interviewed the kids, took the phone, and posted guards at the exits. We did everything by protocol."

"That's might've been it," Wilkes said, shrugging. "These kids don't do protocol."

…

"Kendall."

Jason nearly sighed the name as the door opened and the boy walked in. He had his hands shoved into the pockets of blue hospital scrubs, blonde bangs hung over his eyes. The kid raised his head to meet Jason's gaze, and Jason was surprised to see him positively furious.

"So," he said, glowering. "You're the Man in Black."

"You know my name." Jason gestured towards him. "So say it, _Kendall."_

Still the kid hesitated, as it saying Jason's name made his nightmare a reality. "Jason Laurent."

Jason smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

"Where's Logan?"

He saw Kendall's eyes flit around the warehouse, looking for his nerdy friend. Jason sighed in irritation. "He's fine," he said. "I let him go once you arrived."

Kendall's eyes shot back to him. _"Liar."_

Jason shrugged, not denying nor confirming it. "Come on, Kendall—why don't you sit down? I'm sure you're wondering why I targeted you."

"Not really," Kendall said edgily. "I'm not interested in the musings of a psychopath."

Jason's eyes flashed. "You would do well not to mock said psychopath."

Kendall said nothing, but he did move to the chair sitting opposite of Jason's and sat down. Jason ran a hand through his thinning blonde hair and pondered where to begin. They only had fifteen minutes, after all.

"It was four years ago," he said slowly. "My daughter, Alex, was late to school. I was driving her." The memories flickered in Jason's head, like an old black-and-white film. "I don't know what happened. There was a truck, and a pole. I blacked out. When I woke up, she was dead."

The kid studied him with a guarded expression. Jason shook himself out of his grief, eyes hardening. "My wife told me they had donated my baby's heart. There was nothing I could do to stop them."

"Her heart?" Kendall, unconsciously, reached up for his own chest. Jason ground his teeth at him, and Kendall seemed to understand. "I mean, I had a heart transplant four years ago, but that couldn't have been—"

"It _was," _Jason snapped. He blinked, and calmed himself. "It was her heart you received. It took me years to track you down, but I did it."

Kendall lifted his chin, green eyes blazing into Jason. "So, what? You're going to kill me all because your daughter was a heart donor?"

"Not originally," Jason said dismissively. "At first, I just wanted to make sure you took care of what she sacrificed. But when I saw who you were—"

"What?" Kendall snapped.

"Famous," Jason said, cutting his eyes to him, not angry. "Just so you can become another shallow, selfish, illicit role model. My daughter did not die for that."

"You couldn't control who her heart went to," Kendall insisted. "And look, dude, I'm sorry she died but that wasn't my fault. Stuff like that happens every day, but grief-stricken fathers move on with their lives. They don't track down where the heart went and try to _kill _the recipient."

Jason felt his temper rising. "Well unfortunately for you, I'm more dedicated than them," he snarled. He stood up, towering over Kendall now.

"I told you what happened," he said, his expression thunderous. "Now, it's time for you to die."


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, so I lied. :P NEXT chapter's the climax. IT'S ALMOST OVERRR! I'm gonna cry, forseriously.**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

"Press!"

Press turned, tightlipped, away from Kendall's mother Jennifer after hearing his name being called. Jennifer followed him as he hurried towards Wilkes, who was waving at him from the front of the hospital.

"What is it?"

"This is Sadie McKinley," Wilkes said, putting a hand on an old woman's shoulder to nudge her forward. "Go on, Ms. McKinley, tell my partner what you told me."

"I pick up a lot of hitchhikers," Sadie admitted. "But I thought it was odd when I was driving by earlier that there was not one, but three young men walking away from the hospital. They were underage, you know, and two of them looked like they'd been through a paper shredder." She shuddered.

"You gave them a ride?" Press asked, trying to contain his excitement.

"Sure did." Sadie nodded. "They all wanted to go the same place. Actually, the other two were following their friend, I think. Anyway, I dropped them off and they told me to come back here and find you nice young men at the hospital and tell them where they went, so that's what I'm doing."

"Do you remember where?"

The old woman sniffed. "Of course I do, son. I may be old, but my mind is sharper than a tack."

Press shared a look with his partner. Wilkes looked amused. They nodded at each other and turned to Sadie.

"Take us."

…

"This is a bad idea," James whispered to Carlos as they crept around the side of the building. "I mean, a _really bad _idea, Carlos."

"Do you want to save Kendall and Logan, or not?" his friend said stubbornly. "They're in there. All we have to do is get them out without the bad guy noticing."

James reached out to grab Carlos' shoulder, and both boys hissed at the pain it brought. Releasing him, James said, "This isn't a movie, Carlos! It's not a comic book, okay? We're just kids. We should wait until the police get here."

Carlos spun on him so fast it was a wonder he could move with his back burned like it was. "We might not have the time!" His dark eyes flashed fiercely. "Kendall wouldn't leave us. Logan wouldn't leave us. I am _not _leaving them, okay?"

He didn't wait for James to answer, turning and shuffling to the back door of the warehouse. James rolled his eyes skyward. "I gotta get new friends," he muttered, following.

Carlos grabbed the door handle and jiggled it. "It's locked," he whispered.

"Of course it is," James groused. He took a turn, but the knob snapped off in his hand. The door slowly swung open to reveal a dimly lit hallway.

Carlos and James looked at each other, and then Carlos crept inside.

The first room they came to was empty. The second was empty, too. But the third one had a locked door.

Carlos rapped his knuckles quietly on the wood. It took a second, but his sensitive ears caught slight shuffling from behind the door. "Logan?" he called softly.

Immediate response, though it was muffled and Carlos definitely couldn't make out any of the words spoken. He looked at James.

"He's in there," he mouthed. He studied the lock. "We need a key."

"A key?" James' eyebrows furrowed. "Uh, yeah, I don't think it's such a good idea to sniff out the crazy stalker dude and ask if we could borrow his key!"

"Shh!" Carlos cautioned, interrupting James' whisper-rant. He motioned for James to follow him as he snuck down the hallway.

James was convinced by this time that his crazy friend was, literally, nuts, but he simply rolled his eyes skyward and complied.

The closer they got to the end of the hall, the more obvious it was that Kendall was here. The blonde was alternating between cussing somebody out and spitting death threats between his teeth.

"You're crazy! Do you hear me? _Crazy! _They should lock you in a mental institution—no, wait, that would be bad for all the crazy people."

They peered over the side of the door, spotting Kendall. He was being tied to a chair as a man bustled around him, tightening zip-ties on his wrists. Kendall growled in frustration, about to let loose another round of profanity, when he spotted Carlos and James.

"What's wrong, Kendall?" the man asked when Kendall's mouth dropped. "Cat got your tongue?"

Kendall's green eyes shot from his friends to the man and he scowled. "Why are you doing this?" he hissed.

"Kendall, we've been over this—"

"No," Kendall interrupted, which may have been dangerous to his health. He glanced at Carlos and James and back again. "Why are you tying me down like this? You have a gun. Why not use that?"

The man straightened and started to turn around. Carlos and James shot back behind the door, but they could still hear his response.

"I have three small bombs set strategically around this building," he said conversationally. "They're not explosive, though. Actually, they're thermite-based."

"What's thermite?"

Carlos peeked over the edge of the door to see the man—Jason Laurent, Kendall had called him back in the hospital—snatch two more plastic ties and turn back to Kendall. On the table, Carlos' vision narrowed in on a shiny silver key. He grabbed James' sleeve and pointed.

"Thermite," Laurent said as he knelt by Kendall's legs, "is a slow burning powder that is really, really hot." He continued to explain its properties as Kendall shot Carlos and James a look that clearly screamed, _Get out of here!_

Carlos ignored him though. The Latino moved, quicker than James thought possible with his injuries, and snatched the key off of the table. It wobbled slightly, and Laurent paused in his explanation, before resuming.

"I researched all the ways to make you die in the slowest, most painful way possible," he whispered as he tightened the tie around Kendall's ankle, binding his legs to the chair. "This is the recommended way."

"You're a crazy—"

Laurent stood and cuffed Kendall so hard across the face the blonde's head snapped back and hit the back of the chair. James growled, almost loud enough for Laurent to hear, but the man was focused on Kendall.

"Come on," Carlos whispered, tugging at James' sleeve again. His eyes pleaded with James, and as Kendall caught his eyes James knew that they needed to get Logan first, and then James. The brunette bowed his head for a moment, before turning and following Carlos.

"Hold on, Logan, we're coming," Carlos whisper-called through the door. His fingers fumbled with the key for a minute before slipping it into the lock and turning it. The bolt slid back into place, and James helped Carlos turn the handle and push the door open.

Instead of one person inside, like they expected, there were three. Logan sat in one chair, looking no worse for wear save for the chafed wrists he'd received from the zip-ties and the duct tape over his mouth. On either side of him, two girls were tied similar to him—one blonde, one a redhead.

Carlos went to Logan first, while James went to the blonde. The zip-ties proved near impossible to undo until Carlos forced the ridges of the key between the ties and Logan's wrists. Finally they snapped off, and Logan tore the tape off his face.

"What are you _doing _here?" their friend hissed, eyes shooting to the door in case Laurent came back.

"We're here to save you," Carlos said with a hurt look on his face as James freed the girls.

"And you didn't bring the police?"

"Hey man, give us some credit," James complained, coming back over. "They're on their way here. Probably."

"Oh my God," one of the girls sighed with relief as she took the tape off her mouth. "I can't believe you're here! I mean, I kind of expected the FBI when Logan came in—"

"Hannah," the blonde complained, "they don't even know who we are. You could, like, introduce us."

"Right." The redhead looked back at them. "I'm Hannah Winstrom, and this is my sister Lindsey. We were kidnapped… I don't know, maybe last night?"

"You're Eddie's daughters," James realized.

"How do you know our Dad?" Lindsey asked curiously.

"Never mind that," Carlos said. "We have to save Kendall."

Logan rubbed his face. "This is unbelievable. We were in protective custody! How did you even—"

James and Carlos looked at each other and shrugged. "We got out," they said in unison.

"You should have stayed in," came a voice from the doorway.

Jason Laurent stood with an expression that was both disappointed and amused at the same time. "Well hello boys," he said cheerfully. "Can't say I saw that one coming. Carlos, looking… conscious, I see."

Carlos glared at him. "We're here for Logan and Kendall."

"And Lindsey and Hannah," James added, shoving the girls behind him.

Jason sighed, looking suddenly less mentally unstable and more like an exhausted father. "We're almost done," he said miserably, staring at the floor. "Almost done. Can't you boys see that? We have a little over five minutes and then it will finally be over. Why can't you just accept that?"

The kids were silent for a moment, watching him, trying to see if he would blow his top. Finally Carlos said quietly, "I don't think you want to do this. I think this is all too much. I mean, I don't know why you're doing this, but it's not worth it."

"My daughter's life is worth it," Laurent said, raising his eyes to look at Carlos. "I'm sorry you guys got caught up in this, but it's over now. Enjoy your last few minutes."

"Wait!" the five of them shouted, but Laurent swung the door closed. A second later the lock clicked back into place.

"James, the key," Carlos said, but James was already ahead of him. He rushed to the door, key out and ready to fit into the lock… except there was none.

"There's no lock on this side," he hissed. "I can't open it."

"Great," Logan said, starting to pace. "We're stuck in here with a bomb and five minutes to get out of here. This is not good."

"The bomb's in _here?" _James' voice rocketed up an octave.

Logan pointed to the corner of the room, where a small box sat with a glowing timer. "It's thermite," he said. "Won't kill us straight away but it burns _hot. _We'll probably die just from the heat, even if we pushed ourselves to the opposite corner, never mind the flames that'll roast us alive."

"Can we just try to stay positive here?" Carlos said, sounding desperate. "There's got to be a way."

"Carlos is right," Hannah said. "We've got five minutes. Let's just look around, see what our options are."

"There's a window," Carlos pointed out. He started to point and then hissed as it tugged on his already abused back muscles.

Logan was on him in an instant. "You need to sit," he urged. "You too, James. I don't know _why _you decided to come here while you were both dangerously _injured—"_

"We came for you," Carlos snapped, uncharacteristically short. He danced away from Logan. "And I can't do anything to help on the ground. Just leave me alone, Logan, I'll be fine."

James was busy trying to get the window open. "This is way too tiny," he complained. "I doubt even I'll get out, what with my slim and slender figure."

"James," Logan sighed, "this is not the time for complimenting yourself."

"I'm just saying," James said defensively.

"We're not going to fit, either," Lindsey said as the window finally popped open after being crusted shut.

The fresh air did nothing to lighten the mood in the room as the teens looked at the ticking bomb in the corner of the room. Logan frowned as he judged the size of the bomb and compared it to the window.

"Maybe we don't have to," he murmured. He crossed the room, picking up the bomb gingerly.

"Careful, Logan," Carlos warned.

Logan shook his head. "It's pretty stable. I all but threw it off of my lap when I was first locked in here and it didn't blow then. I think it's safe to handle… or to drop."

They stared at him until it clicked. The bomb was just the right size to fit through the window. Logan tested it out, and the small box slid easily through the window. It hit the ground with a soft thud, and they held their breaths, waiting for the explosion. When it didn't come, they all cheered quietly.

"One down," Carlos said.

Logan paused, staring at him. "There're _more?"_

"Laurent said he'd placed them in strategic places around this warehouse," James said. "I mean, this one existed. There could definitely be more."

"Guys, listen," Hannah said abruptly. "Do you hear that?"

It took them a second, but everyone's heads shot towards the window, where the sirens were getting louder.


	11. Chapter 11

**Seriously guys, I have no excuse. I am so sorry. But the good news is, this is the second to last chapter! And I'll get that last chapter to you guys ASAP! **

**Enjoy!**

**...**

Logan thought they were saved. The sirens were definitely heading this way. Maybe the police would arrest crazy man and save them before the bombs went off.

And then Carlos collapsed.

"Carlos!" James noticed first, as Carlos was holding onto his good shoulder for support. The Latino's eyelids fluttered closed, and his bronze skin was slick with sweat.

"I knew it," Logan said, taking his vitals. "He pushed himself way too far. It's a miracle he hadn't passed out before now. His body's just not ready for this."

"We need to get him out of here," Hannah said, her eyes shooting to the door. "There has to be a way."

"We can yell for help out the window," James suggested over the roar of the police sirens.

"Will they hear us?" Lindsey demanded. She had to yell, since they could barely hear each other.

The four of them looked at each other helplessly.

"We have to do something," Logan said finally. He grabbed Carlos' arm and swung it around his shoulders, standing and supporting him as James took his other arm. They looked at the door. "Our best chance," Logan explained, "is for the bombs to go off. The fire will eat through the door and we'll be able to escape. But… it's going to be hot."

"You don't say," James groused.

"We're in," Hannah said. She traded glances with her sister and nodded once. "And if we make it out of this, we want autographs."

Logan didn't have a chance to reply. With a soft _whump, _the first bomb went off, followed by another one and then the one they'd dropped outside. For a second nothing happened, the four teenagers staring at the door in apprehension.

And then it started getting hot.

"Must not have dropped it far enough," James muttered as he let go of Carlos for a second to take off his jacket. Logan did the same as smoke started to billow into the room from the open window.

"Close that," Logan ordered, but Lindsey was already on it.

"Is that smart?" Hannah asked him. "I mean, won't we need that open when the smoke from inside fills this room?"

Logan shrugged. "Would you rather suffocate now or later?"

"Point taken."

It was silent for a second before James said, "Hey Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"If we don't make it out of this, I love you man."

Logan rolled his eyes, looking at James. The taller boy gave him a weak smile, which Logan returned. "We'll make it out," he said confidently.

_You hear that, God? Don't make a liar out of me._

…

Press was usually the calm one. Wilkes gripped the armrests as the Denali screeched around a corner, Press' knuckles white on the steering wheel.

"Alex!" he shouted. "Take a _chill pill! _We are no use to those kids if you kill us on the way there!"

"Sorry," Press ground out through grit teeth. "I just can't _believe… _We exist for a reason Mack. You're not supposed to shun the police to go off to try to save your friends! Normal people don't do that. Why would these kids…?"

"I don't know," Wilkes admitted. "All I know is—is that smoke?"

Press slammed on the brakes. Siren still wailing, the two detectives got out of the SUV and stared up at the building, a small fire already sputtering out on the side of the wall and smoke drifting through the windows inside.

"Is this the place?" Wilkes asked, looking at the street names and comparing them to what Sadie McKinley told him. He sighed. "Never mind."

"Better get the fire department in here," Press said tightly. "And an ambulance."

…

"Your friends came for you," Laurent spat at Kendall as he came back from the back of the warehouse.

Kendall sat up in the chair. He'd already spotted James and Carlos—more than a little surprised to see Carlos up and awake, attempting to rescue him no less. He watched as Laurent paced in a small circle in front of the chair.

"Almost done," he sighed finally, standing in front of Kendall. He stared down the younger blonde with fiery eyes as the room began to fill with smoke.

"This is crazy," Kendall said, panic starting to creep into his voice. "I understand why you're doing this, Laurent, but you can't just kill us. We're just kids. Like your daughter."

"I had hoped you would be like her, you know," Laurent said. "You're not. You're nothing like Alex."

"You're right, I'm not," Kendall agreed. He shifted in the chair. "Alex was a sweet girl who liked painting and rain, who hated potatoes and loved her parents."

Laurent's face turned a mottled purple. "Shut up."

But Kendall couldn't. He leaned forward as best he could, green eyes steely. "She cared about everyone and everything, especially a football player named Drew and her dog, Ginger."

"Shut _up! _I mean it!"

The fire was spreading now. Flames licked at the walls and crept towards Kendall's chair, making beads of sweat appear on the blonde's brow. But his eyes were locked on Laurent.

"Her middle name was Jean. She wanted to change the world with her art. She hated her full name. There was not a person on this earth who disliked her, and you know what? I'm _nothing like her."_

Kendall took a deep breath. "But I know that she wouldn't have wanted this. You're her father, Jason, not a murderer. That's why you couldn't kill Eddie, isn't it? Because you'd be leaving his daughters without a father? Then what are you, setting this warehouse on fire?"

The smoke caused his throat to seize up, and Kendall broke off his speech to cough so hard his head spun. Laurent sunk to the floor, gripping his hair. His blue eyes were wild as they locked on Kendall, like he wanted to speak but couldn't find the words.

Kendall tried to duck his head down under the smoke, but he was still tied to the chair. He coughed again, eyes burning and tears pricking at the corner. Oh well. He tried to convince Laurent to let him go. Darkness hedged at his vision as his head swam. With a sharp gasp, Kendall plunged into blackness with one last cough.

…

James' knuckles were white as he held onto Carlos with his good arm. Logan stood protectively in front of the girls, facing the door as the smoke seeped in. Carlos hadn't woken yet, and James took it upon himself to protect his little buddy from the flames. The last thing Carlos needed was another fire.

Logan tensed. "Now."

The future doctor took a step forward and slammed his foot into the door. The wood rattled but held, and with a frustrated growl Logan kicked at the door again. With a _crack _it splintered and fell outwards, releasing a whoosh of flame and heat as the fire raced towards them.

"Okay!" Logan yelled. "Go! Don't stop! Go left and straight forward!"

James barely heard him, but the girls did. They led the way as Logan came back to help him with Carlos. The fire spread rapidly, flames already licking at James' heels. James ground his teeth, thanking Carlos for reminding him to put his shoes back on. Now all he needed was to return the favor.

They followed his instructions, taking a left and shuffling straight back to the front of the warehouse. The fire had spread terrifyingly fast, clinging to the walls and nipping at their skin as they passed. The girls helped out by stomping on the flames as much as possible, clearing the way for Logan and James as they half-carried, half-dragged Carlos with them.

Sweat made James' bangs stick to his hair. He had never been in this much pain. His ribs were screaming at him, the tightness in his chest making it even harder to breathe through the smoke. James couldn't even feel his shoulder anymore. He hoped that was a good thing.

Suddenly, Lindsey and Hannah pulled up short.

"What's wrong?" Logan asked between coughs.

The girls merely pointed in front of them. The doorway into the larger room of the warehouse was blocked by a giant wall of fire. A flaming pillar of wood—maybe from the door, maybe from something else—stretched across the length of the doorway. There was no way to go through it, no way to go around it.

James looked at Logan, but the younger boy's skin was pale under the bright orange light illuminating his face. He looked lost and exhausted as he turned away from them to cough into his elbow.

"We have…" he said, taking a deep breath. "We have to… to turn around."

James nodded, and they started to turn around. They didn't even get halfway back down the hallway before, with a shudder and a high pitch shrieking, half of the low roof came down in front of them.

"Back up!" Logan yelled, but the warning was unnecessary. The four stumbled backwards, and splinters shot towards them. James accidentally dropped Carlos, and then went down with him as he stumbled over his unconscious friend.

Logan and Lindsey helped him up while Hannah knelt by Carlos. The redhead looked up through glistening eyes. "We're trapped," she said for everyone there.

Noticing that Logan wouldn't respond, James merely nodded. For a second it was silent as the fire roared around them. James looked from face to face. Logan's eyes were downcast as he checked over Carlos like he needed something to do with his hands. Hannah was on the verge of crying, and Lindsey was gripping her fists in grim acceptance.

He couldn't believe they were going to die like this.

Carlos' head rolled to the side, and a sigh escaped his lips. Logan leaned forward, eyes on Carlos. "What did you say, Carlos?"

James didn't hear anything, but after a second Carlos stirred again. "Boy scouts," he mumbled.

Logan looked up to stare at James. James didn't understand the sudden look of excitement in his eyes. "Way to go, Carlitos," he said under his breath as he pushed himself to his feet.

"What?" James didn't get it. He traded glances with Lindsey and Hannah and could see that they didn't understand Logan's sudden revelation.

Carlos sighed again. "Fire." Then, as if he'd never woken up in the first place, he slipped back into unconsciousness.

"Get in the middle of the hallway," Logan ordered. They complied, watching as he tore off his over shirt. Ripping them into even shreds, he laid them down in a large circle big enough to fit all of them inside, and then dragged the material through the flames, lighting them on fire.

Suddenly James knew what Carlos meant. He stared at Logan, coughed for a minute, and then asked, "Is that going to work?"

"I don't know," Logan said grimly.

"What's he doing?" Hannah asked James.

"We learned in boy scouts back in Minnesota," James explained, trying and failing to take a deep breath without coughing. "When you... are in a fire, you can protect yourself by making… making a controlled fire in a circle and then staying inside it. But… you need a way to keep the circle from growing. This might now work."

"It's all we have," Logan snapped at him, finishing lighting the strips on fire. His shirt burned faster than the rest of the fuel, and it spent itself out fast. Logan helped it go out by stomping the ash into the floorboards.

He sat back down next to them, sweat pouring down his face. "It's all we have," he repeated. He sounded close to passing out. James sat with Carlos' head in his lap, head bowed. It was quiet again. Smoke billowed around them, the storm of flame raging like a painful, incredibly hot hurricane.

James' vision, which swam in and out of focus, sharpened for a second as he felt Lindsey's lips on his cheeks. She gave him a tired smile.

"I just wanted to say that I kissed James Diamond before I died," she said.

James just nodded. The four of them huddled over Carlos, holding onto each other. None of them thought of Kendall or Laurent, or the firefighters who were just outside fighting to get into the building. Even with the inferno all around them, in the eye of the storm they sat in silence until darkness took them all.


	12. Chapter 12

**It's OVERRRR! *la sob* I had tons of fun writing this! And I totally kept my word! It's not QUITE as long as Two Minutes. :P Thank you for everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, and/or alerted this story! I wuvs you all. Y'all keep me writing!**

**ALSO: Me and my epic friend _chocolate-colombo_ are co-writing a story together! Stay tuned! Next up on my list of stories: Finish Revenge of Atticus Moon! Feel free to check that out also!**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

Life is never dull when you're a firefighter.

Adam Hansen was what firefighters call a white cloud. As a probie in the Los Angeles Fire Department, all he wanted was to fight fires. Unfortunately, none ever came when he was on duty. There were trashcan fires and false alarms, but a real blaze, one where he had to deck out the hose and climb a ladder to rescue trapped people? Those never came. It was a curse.

Still, no one could ever call John unprepared. He suited up like everyone else for every call, ever false alarm, every trashcan inferno.

And it was a good thing he did.

Adam stuck close to Mark as they breached the building. The flames were hot—really hot. It was obvious that the fire was arson. Adam could tell by the numerous police officers lined up outside. But it wasn't his job to figure out who set the fire. It was his job to put it out, and rescue anyone inside.

"Hey!" one of the cops called, catching Mark's attention. The elder firefighter turned to look at him, and the officer continued, "There are kids in there! Four of them!"

Mark nodded, and when he turned back to Adam his face was grim behind the mask. Adam felt a pang of fear, wondering how long this fire had been burning, and how long kids could survive being trapped in the building.

They went in. The warehouse was on the smaller side, which only a large central room and a hallway, with three other rooms branching off of it. They entered the larger room first. Adam helped Mark and another firefighter on the squad, Todd, put out the flames in the corner of the room. The smoke was almost too thick to see the kid lying on the floor, blonde hair bright with the reflection of orange flame.

"Got one!" Adam hollered as he knelt by the teen. He couldn't tell if the kid was alive or not—it was too dark to see, and his gloves were too thick to feel his pulse. He passed the boy to Todd, who carried him out of the building while Adam continued on with Mark.

"This one's dead," Mark said through his mask. He pointed at the slumped body of a man. At least, Adam thought it was a man. The body was charred from head to toe, including the face. Adam cringed away, following Mark to the hallway.

"I see the rest of them," Mark shouted as they sifted through charred wood. He pointed with a thick glove. Adam saw them too—huddled together, definitely more than four. The fire raged around them.

Mark and Adam made their way to the teens, carefully stepping under and over collapsed debris. Mark stopped when they finally reached them and let out a low whistle.

"They're not even burned," Adam said in amazement.

"They made a fire circle," Mark said. "To try to keep the fire from spreading to them. Smart kids."

They were all unconscious. Adam and Mark had to call over three other firefighters to get them out. The charred man was carried out, too. It might have been horrible, but Adam was glad he was the only one who died.

…

Carlos woke violently, coughing. His throat stung, and when he tried to sit up to breathe better his arms and back stung too.

A hand appeared on his shoulder and gently pushed him back down. Someone was talking, but Carlos could barely hear anything. His eyes burned when he opened them, and he squeezed them shut to try to relieve the pain.

The voices were getting louder. Carlos could hear the urgency in them, the panic even as they tried to calm him down. There were more hands trying to hold him down. Carlos wasn't trying to freak them out. His body seemed to be acting on its own, struggling to get out from under their grasp.

"Carlos! You need to calm _down."_

Heart pounding, Carlos finally put a name to one of the voices. He froze, blinking rapidly as unexpected tears streamed down his cheeks. Finally his vision focused. Katie gazed down at him, Ms. Knight holding her shoulders and staring at him with a look that was part hope, part relief, and part horror.

When Katie saw him calm down, her eyes filled with tears. "I hope you never do that again," she exclaimed, before leaning down and hugging him gently.

It still hurt. But Carlos didn't complain.

…

He woke again, slower this time. Logan sat in the chair, head on Carlos' bed with his arms tucked underneath him. From here Carlos could see the bandages on his arms, and realized that he'd been wrapped up in various places, too. Logan's eyes were closed, his breathing raspy and shallow. But he was breathing. And asleep.

Carlos decided to follow his example.

…

This time when he woke, he was a lot more coherent. Voice drifted in and out as he tried to pry open his crusty eyelids. His throat burned. Carlos' eyes opened and the voices went silent as Logan leaned over him, peering down at him through worried eyes.

"You with us, Carlitos?" he asked.

Carlos managed a nod. A nurse appeared by Logan's side and helped Carlos sit up better with the help of the reclining bed. Carlos hissed as his burns tore, but he waved off Logan's attempts to help. "Where are the others?"

At least, that's what he tried to say. His voice was utterly destroyed. He could barely breathe without feeling the stabs of pain that went with it in his throat and lungs. His head pounded. This was not a fun feeling at all.

Luckily, Logan seemed to understand. "Ms. Knight and Katie are with James."

Carlos' eyes widened. He tried to say Kendall's name, but all that came out was a small squeak of air.

Logan realized what he'd said. "No, they're at James because he just woke up," he assured him. "Kendall's fine too. Bruises and burns. Same with me. You and James are who we're worried about."

Carlos nodded. He felt wiped. He started to ask how long he was out when Logan eased him back against the pillow. "You need to rest," said their future doctor. "I'll be here when you wake up."

…

They'd changed hospital rooms, James realized when he woke up. It was bigger in here, and brighter because there were more windows. He turned his head and saw Carlos, sleeping peacefully on his side. Or as peaceful as he could be. His head was shaved, shoulder bandaged, as well as his chest and back. He definitely wasn't there the first time James woke up.

"You're awake," Logan said.

James turned his head, surprised to see Logan up and around. His voice was hoarse, but aside from that and the barely noticeable burns on his face and arms, Logan looked relatively untouched. He gave James a smile.

"Been waiting for you guys. It's been, like, three days."

James' eyes widened. Logan hurried on, "It's alright, you've been out of it. Don't try to talk, you'll just hurt your throat more. Kendall and Carlos are fine, if you're wondering."

"Yeah, we're good," Kendall said, coming in then. His voice sounded better than Logan's. He was holding a tray of food in his arms. "All of us," he added, giving Logan a look.

"I smell food."

They all turned to see Carlos, eyes open with a sleepy light in them as he gazed at Kendall and his tray. He blinked, looking surprised that he could talk.

Logan beamed at him. "Morning, Carlos. How are you feeling?"

"Like crap."

James chuckled, which then rattled his ribs and strained his shoulder. But it was worth it.

"What happened?" Carlos said, using Logan to help him sit up.

"Not sure," Logan admitted as he and Kendall pulled up chairs between James' bed and Carlos'. "Laurent is dead. I know that for sure."

James' mood immediately darkened at the mention of Laurent's name. Carlos nodded thoughtfully.

"So it's over?"

"It's over," Kendall agreed. He ran a hand through his shortened hair—which had to be cut, since some of it burned. "Look, you guys…"

"You really don't have to say it," Logan interrupted. "You know we're always going to be here for you, man."

"Yeah, but—"

"And even if you don't want us to," Logan continued, "we're going to stick with you. No matter what. So you can just stop trying to push us away, 'cause it won't work. Not now, not ever."

James and Carlos sent each other amused glances. Logan wasn't one for speeches. That was Kendall's forte.

Kendall noticed, too. A small smile appeared on his face. "You been hanging around me too much?"

Logan rolled his eyes at him. "Maybe I just realized that you should tell your friends what's going on with you before something happens that's hazardous to your health."

"But we made it out," Kendall pointed out. "So really, you should be thanking me."

James wished he could join this conversation. Carlos saved him by clearing his throat, which made the boys fall silent.

"I feel sorry for Laurent," Kendall said after some silence.

"Why?" Logan snorted. "The man hunted you down for four years, blew up Carlos, killed people, and kidnapped us and locked us in a building."

"Well yeah," Kendall said, "but that's only because he loved his daughter so much. I mean, if she had to die just so I could get a heart and someday become a famous—"

"Then none of that is your fault." Carlos was the one who spoke up this time, eyeing Kendall.

Logan nodded. "Carlos is right. We don't control what happens in life, Kendall. Alex didn't die because you would get the heart, Kendall. You got her heart because she died. Don't let him twist this stupid situation to make it your fault, because it's not."

"Think of it this way," Carlos offered. He took a deep breath to try to raise his voice, although it didn't help much. "At least now he's with his daughter."

James didn't have the heart to tell Carlos that he didn't think Laurent would ever see his daughter in heaven. He probably went straight to hell. James almost hoped he did.

"Why are you thinking about this, anyway?" Logan asked. "It's over. We can go back to our normal lives now."

Kendall shrugged. "I ran into one of the firefighters who saved us in the cafeteria a minute ago. He told me that they found me on the ground, and Laurent in the chair."

"So?" Logan asked.

"So… when I passed out I was the one in the chair. Not on the ground." Kendall dug the toe of his shoe into the tile floor. The room became silent as the four contemplated that.

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people," Carlos said finally.

Kendall nodded. "Alex died in a car crash."

"And you got targeted by a stalker," Carlos added.

"And," Logan said reluctantly, "I guess even Laurent used to be a good person. His daughter was killed and he never got to say goodbye. That's enough to drive anyone crazy."

James nodded, unable to contribute.

Kendall was quiet. "But I guess that's what friends are for," he said. "To get you through that stuff so you don't go crazy. If Laurent had opened up to people about how he was feeling, this might've never happened."

"Life's crazy like that," Logan agreed.

"Unpredictable." Carlos yawned, and then released the breath with a quiet, "Ow, ow, ow…"

"Get some sleep you guys," Logan said, standing up. "Kendall and I need to go do something, but we'll be back."

"Where are you going?" Carlos asked sleepily.

Logan made a face at Kendall as they turned to the door. "If I recall, we owe a couple of girls an autograph."


End file.
